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* 


KITTY-CAT TALES. 







“Some day, perhaps, T’ll, be King of the Cats.’' — Page 214 , 
















KITTY-CAT TALES 


BY 

ALICE VAN LEER CARRICK 

* 


ILLUSTRATED BY 


Homer Eaton Keyes and 


Bertha G. Davidson 




BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 

C ' =| 3 ^ , 

Co p ^ * 



C ojaif 2* 


Copyright, 1907, 1932, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company. 


All Rights Reserved. 


Kitty-Cat Tales. 


printed in U.S.A. 


APR 19 m2 4 

©Cl 4 50935 





To 

Margaret and “John — and Simpkin 










FOR ALL CHILDREN WHO 

LIKE CATS 

S O many, many cats have we known and 
loved: gallant, unconquered, tremen¬ 
dous Puffy-Tail, yellow Punchinello, Minx 
(a naughty cat, but with great force of char¬ 
acter) , Atalanta and Mercury, the little wild 
twins that ran away so fast—until we 
tamed them, and now proud Henry of 
Navarre, thus christened because he has a 
tail like a great waving white plume! These 
are only a few of the petted pussies, spoiled 
as all dear cats should be, that have followed 
us on our walks, and stretched their lazy 
length across our books (just as Mahomet’s 
beloved cat lay on his sleeve) whenever we 
wanted to study, and slept always in our 

easiest chairs. Yes, we knew them so well, 

• • 

Vll 


and loved them so much that we are sure 
they are not to be merely memories; we are 
quite convinced that we < shall meet them all 
again when, as our children used to say in 
their baby days, we “go up to be angels.” 

And I am surer of this than ever since I 
have read two more pretty kitty-cat tales: 
one told by old Moncrif, a Frenchman who 
lived over two hundred years ago; the other 
just a snatch of a story in Carl Van Vechten’s 
“Tiger in the House,” a book you will 
delight in when you are a grown-up person. 
Let me tell them to you. 

Once upon a time there lived a mighty 
king who ruled over India. Rich he was, 
beyond all other monarchs, with great 
armies of elephants, vast hoards of precious 
stones, and heaps of glittering gold—why, 


Vlll 



he could have pinned in his turban a fresh 
jewel, worth a prince’s ransom, three times 
a day and never have missed them from 
his treasury. But earthly riches were not 
his only possession; he was wise exceedingly, 
and to his court came all the learned doctors, 
astronomers, and magicians. One day, in 
Salamgam’s gilded hall, two wise and holy 
men, a Brahmin and a Penitent, were boast¬ 
ing their powers, each striving to prove 
himself the more virtuous. The monarch 
listened a while, then said, “Let us put it 
to a trial for all time.” Then the Brahmin 
answered that he would ascend to the 
Heaven of Devendiren, and there pluck a 
fragrant branch of the never-fading tree 
that was known as Parisadem, smelling 
so sweet and always starred with flowers. 
With these words he rose in the air and 


IX 


disappeared from the sight of the wonder¬ 
ing courtiers, who marvelled even more 
when he soon returned to earth bearing in 
his arms the blossoming bough that no 
mortal had ever seen before. 

Only the Penitent refused to be aston¬ 
ished . ‘ ‘Why, that’ s nothing to brag about, ’ ’ 
he said. “Pray watch the miracle that I am 
about to perform. I shall not go myself, but 
instead send my charming cat, Patripatan, 
for in Paradise they have such confidence in 
my virtue that they will let him bring back 
the branch for me.” (Now I have no picture 
of Patripatan to show you, so you must 
fancy him as your pet pussy, very neatly 
brushed, and wearing a huge blue bow!) 

In his turn the cat rose and vanished 
from sight, but, 0 despair, he did not come 
back! For, you see, there were forty-eight 


million goddesses in that glittering Heaven, 
and they all fell so in love with Patripatan 
and his pretty ways that they would not 
let him go. The Chief Goddess chose him 
for her very own, and gave him great 
golden bowls of cream skimmed from the 
Milky Way, and made a bed for him of 
the softest and whitest clouds, and clasped 
round his neck a gleaming collar of stars. 
In vain the good cat told them how im¬ 
patiently his master, the Penitent, was 
waiting for him to return with the precious 
bough, though always politely adding that 
he was so happy in Heaven that he would 
like to stay forever, were it not his duty 
to return to earth. But at last the 
merciful Devendiren heard Patripatan’s 
plea, and decided that he must be sent 
back to the court of King Salamgam and 


XI 


the patient Penitent, for, as he said, “If he 
does not go, no one will ever again believe 
in this holy man, and, moreover, there is 
no greater harm to be done a mortal than 
to steal his cat.” The Chief Goddess was 
very unhappy to lose her cherished Patri- 
patan, and wept, and began to bargain 
with Devendiren, “Let me keep him just 
three hundred years more; that’s not very 
long,” she coaxed, “and then his master 
can have him again.” 

Of course, three hundred years, if most 
of us were waiting for something to happen, 
would seem very dull indeed, but the Peni¬ 
tent, by his good white magic, was able 
to keep the king and the courtiers always 
happy and always young. I suppose they 
sang and danced and feasted in the gilded 
hall, and rode a-hunting on the great 


* 


elephants, and wore innumerable jewels, 
and made life one joyous, unending holiday. 
But at last, just as the courtiers were 
beginning to yawn a little, the three cen¬ 
turies came to an end. There was a sound 
of celestial music, the sky grew crimson, 
and down from the clouds came Patripatan, 
still wearing his jeweled collar, and clasping 
in his careful paws a resplendent spray 
from the tree Parisadem. And I think that 
whenever the courtiers grew weary of riding 
on elephants and stringing bright, many- 
colored gems, they gathered round Patri¬ 
patan, and begged him to tell them the 
story of all the marvels he had seen. 

So I am very sure cats can go to Heaven! 
Besides, in Moscow there is a legend that 
little Russian children listen to as they sit 
at evening round the reddened hearth. 


xm 


Long, long ago, the Cat and the Dog 
were stationed as guards at the gates of 
Paradise, a very important position, for 
they had to watch carefully and challenge 
every soul that wanted to come in. Now, 
one day, the Prince of Darkness, craving 
to enter the bright realm he had known 
and lost, crept to the gates, disguised as a 
little gray mouse. So small he was that 
the Dog only opened one drowsy eye, 
thumped his tail, and went to sleep again, 
never worrying at all. But the Cat, much 
wiser and more alert, cocked his head on 
one side and said, “That’s not a real 
mouse! He’s just pretending!” So he 
pounced hard, and that was the end of 
the Prince of Darkness! 

Alice Van Leer Carrick 


XIV 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

FOR ALL CHILDREN WHO LIKE CATS . . . vii 


THE FIRST NIGHT 

• 





7 

The White Cat . 






13 

THE SECOND NIGHT . 

• 





39 

The King of the Field-Mice 

• 





4 i 

THE THIRD NIGHT 

• 





55 

The Discontented Cat 

• 





57 

THE FOURTH NIGHT . 

• 





122 

The Cat who married a Mouse 





123 

THE FIFTH NIGHT 

• 





139 

Mother Michel and her Cat 

• 





141 

THE SIXTH NIGHT 

• 





1 77 

Venus and the Cat 

• 





178 

The Cat and the Fox 

• 





181 

THE SEVENTH NIGHT . 

• 





186 

Dick Whittington and his Wonderful 

Cat 



189 

THE EIGHTH NIGHT . 

• 





203 

The Funeral of Tom Grimalkin 





204 

The King of the Cats 

• 





210 

THE NINTH NIGHT 

• 





216 

Puss-in-Boots 

3 






218 











ILLUSTRATIONS 


“Some day, perhaps, I’ll be King of the Cats” Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

The Prince mounted the hobby-horse, and found that 

HE HAD NEVER RIDDEN BETTER. 20 

“ Know, then, that I am the King of all the Field- 

Mice ”.44 

The Countess came in, followed by a lapdog . . 98 

“ I understand now,” said the little mouse, quite 

gently. 136 

He opened the bag, and tossed Moumouth into the 

WATER.I50 

Venus turned her at once into a cat again . .180 

Some brought one thing, some another, but Dick 

Whittington had only his cat to send . . *194 

“ Have you any spare time ? ” asked the owl . . 206 

“Master,” said Puss, “you haven’t fared so badly as 

you seem to think”.220 


5 










THE FIRST NIGHT 


Dolly sat up in bed, and 
stared gravely at the shutters 
where the last sunset light was 
trying to slip through. She was 
not at all sleepy, and, because 
Sandman had not come to shake 
his magic dust in her eyes, she 
had time to think what a lonely 
and very, very unhappy child she 
was. For Dolly’s mother and 
father had gone away suddenly to 
her grandmother, who was ill, and 
Miss Jane had come to take care 


7 


8 


THE FIRST NIGHT 


of the little girl until they came 
home. Miss Jane was good to 
her — Dolly knew that — but, then, 
Miss Jane had never had any little 
girls of her own, so she could not 
know how nice a lump of sugar 
felt in your hand at bedtime, nor 
how a tight, lumpy braid of hair 
could get down your back at night, 
and keep you awake for ever so 
long. Miss Jane had given Dolly 
a drink of water, and heard her 
say her prayers, and then gone 
out. 

“ She never kissed me good night, 
nor told me just even one story,” 



THE FIRST NIGHT 


9 


the little girl said to herself. 
“ And she wouldn’t shut the door 
loose, though I said ‘Please,’ ’cause 
she was afraid Impty would get 
in. O dear! How I wish I did 
have him with me ! ” 

Now Impty was a black, black 
kitten, with long, thin legs, and 
a thin, curved tail that made him 
look like a witch’s cat—ready to 
jump on a broom-stick, and sail off 
through the air—and he stared 
solemnly out of such round, yellow 
eyes that he seemed to understand 
everything that happened about 
him. 




10 


THE FIRST NIGHT 


“Dear me! I wish Impty was 
here! ” said Dolly again, and then 
something rubbed against her 
sleeve, and said, “ Purr-rr-rr,” a long 
purr that slid at last into words, and 
sounded like this, “ Purr-rr-rr, poor 
Dolly, poor Dolly! I'll tell you a 
story.” 

“Why, Impty, dear, I didn’t 
know you could talk,” the little girl 
cried. 

“ You never asked me,” answered 
the kitten, demurely. “ But I can 
talk, and I can tell stories, too, for 
I know all the lore of Cat-Land. 
When I sleep I go there in my 


THE FIRST NIGHT 


ii 


dreams, and my grandfather, the 
King of the Cats, purrs the Kitty- 
Cat tales in my ear. You have 
been so kind to us all your life 
that you are loved through the 
whole Cat Kingdom, and so, one 
tale each night until your mother 
comes home, I am permitted by the 
King to tell you. But now lie 
down, and I will purr to you, and 
then, if Miss Jane comes in, she 
can’t do more than say ‘ Scat ’ and 
drive me away, but if she heard me 
really talking, goodness knows what 
would happen ! ” 

So Dolly cuddled down with a 


12 


THE FIRST NIGHT 


happy 

little 

sigh, 

and 

Impty 

curled 

himself up 

close 

to 

the 

pillow, 

and 

began 

the 

story 

of 

“ The White 

Cat.” 






Once upon a time there was a 
King who had three sons, all of 
whom were so handsome and good 
and clever, that he could not decide 
which should be the one to reign 
after him when he was dead and 
gone. Now this King was getting 
old, and as he knew that he must 
soon make his choice, and appoint 


13 














































THE WHITE CAT 


14 

his heir, he called his three sons to 
him. 

“ Listen,” he said to them : “ I 
am growing older every day, and 
soon one of you must rule the king¬ 
dom in my stead. Now, I love you 
all so well that I can make no 
choice, but I will give each of you 
the chance to win the crown. 
Gather together your servants and 
your horses, set out upon a journey, 
and the one of you who shall bring 
me back the most beautiful little 
dog, shall inherit my sceptre. One 
year will I give you for the search, 
and then I will make my decision.” 


THE WHITE CAT 


15 


So the three sons took leave of 
their father, and started in different 
ways, sad at heart at leaving home 
and each other, for, though they 
were rivals, they were devoted 
brothers. One went north, and 
one went south, and both saw many 
strange sights, but the youngest 
Prince had the most wonderful 
adventures of all. He wandered 
here and there, buying dogs of all 
kinds: dachshunds, spaniels, black 
and tans, until he had a large pack 
of tiny dogs trotting at his heels. 

Then, when the year was all gone 
but a month, and he was thinking 


16 THE WHITE CAT 

of turning his steps homeward, he 
wandered from his followers, and 
lost his way in a wide, dark forest. 
After calling out and hallooing in 
vain, he noticed a number of lights 
burning brightly not very far away, 
and he turned his steps in their 
direction. What was his surprise 
to come to the gate-ways of a 
mighty castle, brilliantly lighted, but 
with no warders at the doors. In¬ 
stead of men-at-arms, a number of 
white hands appeared in answer to 
his knock, and ushered him into a 
spacious, well-lighted hall. He sat 
down in a soft arm-chair that the 


THE WHITE CAT 


1 7 


hands had brought up close to the 
fire, and, when he was warmed and 
rested, the hands drew off gently 
his travel-stained garments, and 
dressed him in a magnificent suit 
of scarlet satin laced with silver. 
Then, when he was ready, and look¬ 
ing as a Prince should look, the 
hands led him into the banqueting- 
hall, and there, under a canopy at 
one end of the room, he saw the 
most beautiful cat he had ever be¬ 
held in his life. She was as white 
as snow, with long, soft, silky fur, 
and the prettiest little face imagi¬ 
nable. Below her were seated cats 


18 THE WHITE CAT 

playing on harps and lutes, and all 
about the hall hurried other cats 
busy on some errand. 

H is chair was placed beside the 
White Cat’s; every honor was shown 
him, and, because he could not eat 
the mice and rats that were served 
up in all sorts of ways, the hands 
brought him his favorite dishes. 
While they were thus feasting, the 
Prince happened to look at a 
bracelet that the Cat was wearing. 
What was his surprise to see that it 
was a band of gold that held a 
miniature of himself! He was lost 
in wonderment, as well he might 


THE WHITE CAT 


19 


have been, for he was sure that 
never in his life had he given his 
picture to a cat of any kind. But 
when he asked her about it, she 
only smiled sadly, and shook her 
head, refusing to say anything. 

After the banquet was over, as he 
was very tired from tramping all 
day long, the hands led him to his 
chamber, and helped him to bed. 
The next morning he was awakened 
by the baying of hounds, and the cries 
of huntsmen under his windows. 
Jumping up, he quickly looked out, 
and saw the whole court ready to 
set out to the forest. When the 


20 


THE WHITE CAT 


hands had dressed him in a suit of 
Lincoln green, he joined the White 
Cat, who was waiting for him to 
come and ride by her side to the 
hunt. She was mounted on a 
monkey, and the hands led out a 
wooden horse for the Prince to ride. 
At first he was inclined to be angry 
at being given such a clumsy steed, 
but the White Cat begged him so 
gently to try it, that he mounted 
the hobby-horse, and found that 
he had never ridden better in his 
life. 

And so, day after day, the 
Prince spent his time at the 



The Prince mounted the hobby-horse, and found that he 
had never ridden better.— Page 20. 
























































THE WHITE CAT 


21 


Castle of the White Cat: feast¬ 
ing, dancing, hunting, and so 
quickly did the time go by, that 
he forgot that his year was nearly 
spent. He had told the White 
Cat of his quest, and how he 
hoped to be able to take back to 
the King, his father, the most 
beautiful little dog in the world. 
But so happy was he that he had 
forgotten all about it, nor would 
he have remembered it at all if 
the Cat had not called him to 
her, and said, “ Prince, to-morrow 
you must leave me, and go back 
to your own world.” 


22 


THE WHITE CAT 


The Prince was heart-broken to 
think how he had forgotten his 
promise to his father, but the 
White Cat told him not to 
grieve, and placed in his hand an 
acorn, bidding him hold it to his 
ear. The Prince did so, and it 
seemed to him that he heard the 
bark of a tiny dog. 

“ Do not open the acorn until 
you reach the court of the King, 
and I promise you that all will 
be well,” she said. 

So the Prince bade good-by to 
the White Cat sadly enough, and 
set out on his homeward journey, 


THE WHITE CAT 


23 


riding his awkward hobby-horse, 
and in far less time than he had 
taken to come, he was back again 
at the Palace. His brothers had 
arrived before him, and, as he en¬ 
tered the hall, they were showing 
off proudly their delicate, highly 
bred dogs. But when the young¬ 
est Prince opened the acorn and 
displayed his beautiful little dog, 
all black, resting against a white 
satin cushion, the whole Court 
cried out in admiration that the 
Kingdom must surely be given to 
him. 

The old King was a little un- 


24 


THE WHITE CAT 


willing, however, to give up ruling 
yet, and the two other brothers 
begged so hard to have another 
chance that it was finally decided 
that the Princes should again set 
out on their travels; and that, this 
time, the one who should bring 
home the finest piece of linen, 
long enough to make the king a 
robe, and delicate enough to pass 
through the eye of a needle, 
should have the Kingdom as 
his reward. A second time the 
three Princes started out, but now 
the youngest Prince refused to al¬ 
low his retinue to accompany him. 


THE WHITE CAT 


25 


Instead, he mounted his old hobby¬ 
horse, and rode away to the White 
Cat’s Castle. When he reached 
the gate, the whole Court of Cats 
ran to welcome him. The White 
Cat received him as graciously as 
before, and when the Prince told 
her the search he had again been 
sent upon, she smiled, and prom¬ 
ised that she would set her cleverest 
spinners at work. There, for an¬ 
other year, the Prince stayed, and 
the time went as swiftly as happi¬ 
ness always does, and he was amazed 
when the White Cat called him to 
her, and told him that he must go 


26 


THE WHITE CAT 


that very night if he wished to 
reach his father’s court in time 
for the test. Then she put into 
his hand a walnut, bidding him 
keep it carefully until he should 
reach the King’s Palace. 

Just as before, he arrived as 
his brothers, believing that he 
would not come in time, were 
opening out their webs of linen. 
Very fine they were. The web 
that the eldest brother had brought 
would slip with ease through a 
bodkin; the second son’s piece 
could be drawn through the eye 
of a large darning needle; but the 


THE WHITE CAT 


27 


whole Court, remembering what the 
youngest Prince had already done, 
waited to see what he had to 
show. He took the walnut from 
his pocket and cracked it. In¬ 
side was a hazel-nut. This he 
cracked, too, and, what was his 
surprise to find a cherry-stone! 

When he had broken this in 
halves he saw inside a grain of 
wheat, and in the grain of wheat 
a millet seed. And then the 
Prince lost heart, and thought that 
the friend he had so believed in 
had played him some cruel trick. 
But as this idea passed through 


28 


THE WHITE CAT 


his mind he felt a soft scratch 
on his hand to let him know 
that the White Cat was true. 
So he opened the millet seed, 
and drew forth the finest web 
of linen in the world. At the 
least it was four hundred ells 
long, and so delicate that it 
would slip with ease through the 
eye of the smallest needle that 
could be found. 

All the courtiers cried aloud 
together that the youngest Prince 
had once more won the King' 
dom, but the elder brothers 
begged for a third chance, and as 


THE WHITE CAT 


29 


the old King was still unwilling 
to give up his throne, he decided 
that his three sons should again 
set out, and that the one who 
brought home the most beautiful 
maiden should marry her, and 
that as King and Queen they 
should rule together over his King¬ 
dom. 

For the last time the Princes 
started forth on their quest. 
The elder brothers took their 
own roads, but the youngest, 
mounting his old wooden horse, 
rode straight to the Castle of the 
White Cat. She was as happy 


30 


THE WHITE CAT 


as ever to see him, and soothed 
away his disappointment, promis¬ 
ing him all the help in her power. 
Just as before, the days sped 
away in merry-making, and when 
the year rolled round again, the 
White Cat told the Prince that 
now the time had come when he 
was to carry back to his father’s 
Palace the most beautiful girl in 
the world. 

“ But where shall I find her ? ” 
cried the Prince, in despair. “ I 
have delayed too long in your 
castle, and now I shall never 
rule over my father’s Kingdom.” 


THE WHITE CAT 31 

“ Yes, you shall,” replied the 
White Cat. “If you will do as 
I bid you, you shall have the most 
beautiful Princess in the world 
for your bride. Take your sword, 
cut off my head and tail, and 
fling me into the fire that burns 
in the great hall.” 

The Prince angrily refused to 
do anything so base. 

“ What! After all your kind¬ 
ness would you have me treat 
you as your worst enemy might ? 
No, I would far rather never be 
King than buy my inheritance at 
such a price,” he said. 


32 


THE WHITE CAT 


But the White Cat begged so, 
telling him, with tears in her eyes, 
that it was the greatest favor in 
the world that could be done her, 
that, at last, the Prince consented. 

He drew his sword, cut off her 
head and tail, and flung her 
into the fire. In her stead rose 
up, to his great wonderment, the 
most beautiful girl he had ever 
seen. 

She stretched out her hands to 
him. 

“ Oh, you have saved me from 
a horrible enchantment, dear 
Prince,” she cried. “If you had 


THE WHITE CAT 33 

not done as I asked, all my life 
long I should have remained a cat. 
I was changed into that shape, 
and condemned to stay so until 
my death, or until the enchant¬ 
ment should be broken, because I 
displeased the fairies who brought 
me up. They declared that I 
must marry the hideous little 
King of the Dwarfs, and when 
I refused, and showed them your 
picture, telling them that you 
were the only man that I would 
ever wed, they threw this spell 
over me. And now, if you love 
me as I do you, and wish to 


34 


THE WHITE CAT 


marry me, take me to your 
father’s Palace, and the Kingdom 
shall be yours.” 

The Prince, who all this time 
had been falling deeper and 
deeper in love, helped her mount 
her horse, and followed by her 
attendants — who were cats no 
longer, but men and women like 
themselves — the Prince and the 
beautiful Princess rode back to 
his home. 

The brides of the elder 
brothers were beautiful to see; 
the Court could not decide which 
was the lovelier, but when the 




THE WHITE CAT 


35 


youngest Prince entered the hall, 
every courtier declared that he 
had again been successful. 

The old King rose from his 
throne. 

“ My son,” he said, “ the 
Princess you have brought home 
is the loveliest lady that these old 
eyes have ever seen, and though 
my Kingdom is all unworthy her 
rule, it is yours; fairly have you 
won it.” 

But the Princess knelt down 
beside him, and said: — 

“We will not take your crown 
from you, for I am Queen of 



36 


THE WHITE CAT 


five mighty Kingdoms. There¬ 
fore you shall keep yours, and 
one each will I give to your 
elder sons, while my husband 
and I will reign over the other 
three.” 

So every one was contented, 
and as for the Prince and his 
beautiful Princess, none ever 
ruled more wisely, nor were 
more beloved by their subjects 
than they were. 

“ And so they lived happy for 
ever and ever afterwards,” mur- 
mured Dolly, contentedly. “ All 


THE WHITE CAT 


37 


nice fairy tales end that way, 
Impty.” 

But Impty only yawned, and 
arched his back lazily. Then he 
jumped down from the bed. 

“ I am going to Cat-Land now,” 
he said, “ to get you a story for to¬ 
morrow night. And I am going to 
sleep under the big arm-chair, near 
the door, so that I can slip out 
when Miss Jane comes in at seven 
o’clock. If she sees me, you know 
she might lock me up in the shed 
to-morrow night, and then, what 
would we do ? ” 

And, in another minute, the little 


3« 


THE WHITE CAT 


lonely child — not lonely any more, 
but very happy — and the black, 
black kitten were fast asleep. 




THE SECOND NIGHT 

Miss Jane must have been aston¬ 
ished at the willing way Dolly went 
to bed the next night. There never 
was a child more ready to be un¬ 
dressed; and although Miss Jane 
braided her hair in a tighter, 
lumpier braid than ever, Dolly 
never said a word. There was no 
need for the child to sit up in bed 
and stare at the light slanting 
through the shutters, as she thought 
how faraway her mother was. In- 


39 


40 THE SECOND NIGHT 

stead, she cuddled into her pillow 
contentedly, and as soon as Miss 
Jane was safely downstairs, Impty 
jumped up, and curled himself into 
a soft, black ball beside her. 

“To-night,” he began, “to-night 
I am going to tell you the tale of 
‘The King of the Field-Mice.’” 



There was, once upon a time, 

long, long ago in J apan, a very poor 

man, a gardener named Chugoro 

Yamakawa, who, with his wife, Ino- 

yo San, lived in a little cottage on a 

small plot of ground. All that they 

had to eat they raised in their 

garden, and their clothes were 

bought by the money that the old 

41 














42 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

man made in selling his vegetables 
and fruits from door to door. 
Their only treasure was their cat 
Tama, a large, sleek fellow, and the 
finest mouser in the whole neighbor¬ 
hood. Every day, when Chugoro 
went to work in his garden, Tama 
trotted after him, and rubbed up 
against him, as if to say, “ My dear 
Master! How I wish that I could 
help you ! ” 

Well, one day, as Chugoro was 
digging around his young bamboo 
trees, Tama came bounding through 
the grass with something in his 
mouth. The old man looked 


THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 43 

down, and saw that it was a pretty 
little field-mouse, and, as he was a 
very kind-hearted man, he took it 
away from the cat, who seemed 
perfectly contented, and trotted off 
as if his business was done. 

The field-mouse was not dead, 
only frightened, and as soon as 
Chugoro put it down on the ground 
again, instead of running away, it 
sat up on its hind legs, and said in 
the tiniest, clear voice : “ I owe you 
many thanks, Chugoro Yamakawa, 
for saving my life. Know, then, 
that I am the King of all the Field- 
Mice, and, if you will meet me to- 


44 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

night at the door of my Palace, 
I will bestow great riches upon 
you.” 

The old gardener thanked the 
little King, and promised to meet 
him that evening as soon as his 
work was done. So, after sunset, 
leaving Tama with Ino-yo San, he 
walked through the garden until he 
reached the hole where the mouse 
was waiting for him. 

“ But I cannot enter here,” said 
Chugoro, looking at the little hole. 
“ Oh, yes you can,” answered the 
King, “for I will touch you with 
my paw, and then you will grow 



»r 


“ KNOW, THEN, THAT I AM THE KlNG OF ALL THE FlELD-MlCE 

Page 43. 










THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 45 

small like me, and able to enter my 
dwelling.” 

He stretched out his paw, and 
immediately the old man shrank 
and shrank until he was no larger 
than the King of the Field-Mice 
himself. 

They walked together down a 
narrow passage-way which, after a 
little, widened into a beautiful 
hall, all glittering with gold and 
silver. In the middle was a table 
richly spread with “ o-tsu-yu ” and 
salad and raw fish, all in 
gorgeous lacquered bowls, with 
plenty of “ saki ” to wash the 


46 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

viands down. There Chugoro 
sat and feasted with the King and 
the Queen and the whole Royal 
Court, and, as they ate, from the 
kitchens came the small sonof of 
the servant mice, pounding rice 
for the New Year. As they 
pounded, they sang this strange 
little ditty: — 

Ton, ton ! Neko sai oraneba 
Nezumi no yo zakare. Ton, ton! 

(When the cat’s away 
The mice will play!) 

After the King saw that 
Chugoro could eat no more, he 
led him to the treasure chamber, 



THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 47 

and filled his arms with gold 
and silver and fine lacquer work; 
enough to make him a rich man 
for life. Then he led him 
through the winding passage, and 
bade him good-by. When the 
old man was out in the fields 
again, he found that he was the 
same height that he had always 
been, and he hurried home to 
share the good news with Ino-yo 
San and Tama. 

With his riches he built him¬ 
self a fine new house, and 
bought jewels and silk robes for 
his wife, and, as for Tama, he 


48 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

rested at night on a downy cushion, 
and lived on everything nice that 
a cat could wish. 

N ow, a rich, miserly neighbor 
of Chugoro’s, Gizaemon Muratani 
by name, seeing the gardener so 

rich and prosperous where he had 
always been in want before, called 
upon him, and begged to know 
what had brought him such 
wealth. 

Churgoro, who was very gen¬ 
erous, and who wished all the 
world to be as fortunate as him¬ 
self, told the whole story to Gi¬ 
zaemon. Immediately the miser 


THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 49 

asked that Tama should be lent 
to him, that he might once more 
catch the King of the Field-Mice. 
The gardener willingly agreed, 
and Gizaemon took Tama, and 
started across the fields, with the 
cat trotting at his heels. All of a 
sudden, Tama darted swiftly away, 
and came bounding back over 
the grass with something in his 
mouth. It was the King of the 
Field-Mice again! Gizaemon set 
him free, and — for he was very 
ungrateful—drove Tama harshly 
away. The mouse thanked the 
rich man as he had Chugoro, 




50 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

and, in the same way, begged him 
to come that night to the door 
of his Palace. The miser’s heart 
swelled with pride and vanity. 

“ Now,” thought he, “ I will be 
richer than my neighbor, for all 
that the Field-Mouse gives me, 
and all that I have myself, will 
be mine.” 

He could hardly wait for the 
sun to set, he was so anxious to 
gather up his riches. 

The King met him at the 
doorway, and touched him with 
his paw. Like Chugoro, he grew 
smaller and smaller until he could 


THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 51 

follow the King down the little 
winding passage. When the ban¬ 
quet hall was reached, he was 
seated at the King’s right hand, 
and served with all sorts of deli¬ 
cious food; but the greedy man 
looked around instead of eating, 
and, as he saw how many fine 
things there were in the room, 
and, as he heard the little 
kitchen mice singing away, as they 
pounded: — 

Ton, ton! Neko sai oraneba, 

Nezumi no yo zakare. Ton, ton! 

he thought, “What a fine thing it 
would be for me if I could make 



52 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

these mice believe that a Cat 
was here! Then they would run 
away, and all these riches would 
be mine!” 

So he called out in a loud 
voice, “Miaou! Miaou! Miaou!” 
and the little, frightened mice fled 
away in a tremble. Gizaemon was 
beginning to gather up the gold 
and silver dishes, when, all at 
once, he found he was growing 
taller and taller and taller. He 
ran to the door, but he was 
much too large to get out. He 
dropped all his stolen riches, but 
he kept on growing bigger and 


THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 53 

bigger and bigger until he grew 
right up in the field like a potato, 
and a farmer who was digging 
there cracked his head with a 
hoe. 

And so his greediness and in¬ 
gratitude were rewarded, but as 
for Chugoro Yamakawa and his 
wife Ino-yo San, they lived with 
Tama, their cat, happy for ever 
and ever afterwards, as you say. 

“ But I do think,” Impty 
added, as he jumped down from 
the bed, and went to hide under 
the arm-chair, “ I do really 


54 THE KING OF THE FIELD-MICE 

think that Tam£ was a wonderful 
cat not to have eaten the field- 
mouse that last time. I’m afraid 
/ should.” 


THE THIRD NIGHT 

Impty came dancing out of his 
hiding-place as soon as the sound 
of Miss Jane’s footsteps died 
away on the stair. 

“ ‘ Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where 
have you been ? ’ ” cried the little 
girl gayly. 

“Well, I haven’t been quite to 
London to look at the Queen,’’ 
answered Impty, as he pranced 
across to Dolly’s pillow, and 
curled down beside her. “ But 


55 


56 


THE THIRD NIGHT 


I’ve been somewhere that’s very 
nearly as good, for I’ve visited the 
Court of the Countess von Rus- 
tenfustenmustencrustenberg, and 
heard there the story of ‘ The Dis¬ 
contented Cat,’ and I’m going to 
tell you to-night the tale of 
her adventures, and how she 
was taught to be happy instead 
of being always dissatisfied.” 



DISCONTENTED CAT 


Once upon a time— I can’t 
say exactly when it was — there 
stood a neat, tidy little hut on the 
borders of a wild forest. A poor 
old woman dwelt in this hut. 
She lived on the whole pretty 
comfortably; for though she was 
poor, she was able to keep a few 
goats, that supplied her with milk, 

57 














58 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

and a flock of chickens, that gave 
her fresh eggs every morning; 
and then she had a small garden, 
which she cultivated with her 
own hands, and that supplied her 
with cabbages and other vege¬ 
tables, besides gooseberries and 
apples for dumplings. Her goats 
browsed upon the short grass 
just outside the garden, and her 
chickens ran about everywhere, 
and picked up everything they 
could find. There were some fine 
old trees which defended the 
cottage on three sides from the 
cold winds, and the front was to 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


59 


the south, so it was very snug 
and sheltered. The forest af¬ 
forded her sticks and young logs 
for fuel, so that she was never 
in want of a fire; and, altogether, 
she managed to make out a 
pretty comfortable life of it, as 
times went. 

The only friend and companion 
the old woman had was her gray 
cat. Now, the cat was a middle- 
aged cat: she had arrived at a time 
of life when people grow reflec¬ 
tive ; and she sat by the hearth 
and reflected very often. What did 
she reflect about ? That is rather 


6o 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


a long story. You must know, 
then, that a few leagues from the 
old woman’s hut, at the other end 
of the forest, there rose a grand 
castle, belonging to a very great 
baron. And sometimes, on fine 
summer mornings, as the old 
woman and the cat were sitting in 
the sunshine, by the door, the old 
woman at her spinning-wheel, 
and puss curled up for a nap 
after her breakfast, the forest 
would suddenly ring with the 
sound of hunting-horns, shouts, 
and laughter; and a train of gay 
ladies and richly dressed gentle- 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 61 

men would sweep by on horse¬ 
back, with hawk and hound, and 
followed by servants in splendid 
liveries; for the Baron was fond 
of hawking and hunting, and 
frequently took those diversions in 
the neighboring forests. Now, it 
so happened that in one of the 
tall trees behind the cottage there 
lived a magpie, not by any means 
an ordinary magpie, but a bird 
that had seen a good deal of the 
world; indeed, at one time of her 
life, she had, as she took care to 
inform everybody, lived in the 
service of the Countess von Rus- 


62 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

tenfustenmustencrustenberg. How 
she happened to leave such a 
grand situation, the magpie never 
explained: to be sure, some ill- 
natured people did say that there 
had been an awkward story about 
the loss of one of the Countess’s 
diamond bracelets, which was 
found one fine morning in the 
inside of a hollow tree in the 
garden; and that Mag was 
turned away in disgrace directly. 
But how the matter really was I 
cannot say; all I know is, that 
she took up her abode halfway 
up one of the large oaks, behind 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 63 

the old woman’s hut, a long time 
before our story begins; and that, 
being of a particularly sociable 
and chatty disposition, she soon 
established an ardent friendship 
with the cat, and they became 
the greatest cronies in the world. 
So when, as I said just now, the 
Baron’s grand hunting parties 
swept past, they afforded the mag¬ 
pie a fine opportunity for display¬ 
ing her knowledge of life and 
the world. And sometimes, too, 
she would dwell at great length 
on the splendor and happiness she 
had enjoyed while she lived with 


64 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

the Countess in her Palace, till 
the cat’s fur almost stood on 
end to hear the wonders she re¬ 
lated. What a place that Palace 
must have been! Very differ¬ 
ent, indeed, from the old woman’s 
cottage. 

Now these conversations with 
the magpie sadly unsettled the 
mind of the cat; more particularly 
when the magpie related to her how 
daintily the Countess von Rusten- 
fustenmustencrustenberg’s cat al¬ 
ways lived, — what nice bits of 
chicken she dined upon, what deli¬ 
cious morsels of buttered crumpet 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 65 

she often had for breakfast, what 
soft cushions she lay upon, and a 
great deal more to the same pur¬ 
pose : all of which made a powerful 
impression upon our wondering 
friend. So she sat and reflected 
by the fire, while the good old 
woman, her mistress, went on spin¬ 
ning the wool which she sold 
afterwards at the nearest town, to 
buy food and clothes. 

The more the cat talked to the 
magpie, the more dissatisfied she 
became with her present condition ; 
till, at last, I am sadly afraid that 
when, in a morning, the old woman 


66 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


gave her her breakfast of goats’ 
milk with some nice brown bread 
broken into it, she began rather to 
despise it, instead of taking it 
thankfully, as she ought to have 
done, for she was very comfortably 
off in the cottage—having bread 
and milk every morning and night, 
and something for dinner, too; be¬ 
sides what mice she could catch, to 
say nothing of a stray sparrow or 
squirrel now and then. But, as I 
said just now, the magpie’s chat¬ 
tering stories unsettled her; she 
thought it would be so charming 
to dine upon bits of roast chicken, 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 67 

and have buttered crumpets for 
breakfast, and fine cushions to lie 
upon, like the Countess’s cat. All 
this was very silly, no doubt; but 
she wanted experience: she knew 
nothing of the thousands and 
thousands of poor cats who would 
have thought her life quite luxu¬ 
rious. It is a very bad thing 
to get unsettled; it sets people 
wishing and doing many foolish 
things. 

One fine bright evening the mag¬ 
pie was perched upon the project¬ 
ing bough of her oak, and the cat, 
who thought the cottage particularly 


68 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


dull that day, had come out for a 
little gossip. 

“ Good evening ! ” screamed the 
magpie, as soon as she saw her; 
“ do come up here and let us chat 
a little.” So the cat climbed up, 
and seated herself on another 
bough a little below. 

“You look out of spirits to-day,” 
began the magpie, bending down a 
very inquisitive eye to her friend’s 
face. “ I am afraid you are not 
well. But I am not surprised. 
That old sparrow I saw you eating 
for dinner must have been as tough 
as leather. It’s no wonder you are 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 69 

ill after it! You should really be 
more careful, and only catch the 
nice tender young ones.” 

“ Thank you,” replied the cat, in 
a rather melancholy tone, “ I am 
perfectly well.” 

“ Then what in the world ails 
you, my dear friend ? ” 

“ I don’t know,” answered the 
cat, “ but I believe I am getting 
rather tired of staying here all my 
life.” 

“ Ah ! ” exclaimed the magpie, “ I 
know what that is — I feel for you, 
Puss; you may well be moped, 
living in that stupid cottage all day. 



70 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

You are not like myself, now; / 
have had such advantages! I 
declare to you I can amuse myself 
the whole day with the recollection 
of the wonderful things I have seen 
when I lived in the great world.” 

“ There it is,” interrupted the cat. 
“To think of the difference in 
peoples situations ! Just compare 
my condition in this wretched hole 
of a hut, with the life you say the 
Countess’s cat lives. I’m sure I 
can hardly eat my sop in the morn¬ 
ing for thinking of her buttered 
crumpets. It’s a fine thing to be 
born in a Palace ! ” 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 71 

“ Indeed,” replied the magpie, 
“ there is a great deal of truth 
in what you say; and sometimes 
I half repent of having retired 
from her service myself; but 
there’s a great charm in liberty — 
it is pleasant to feel able to fly 
about wherever one likes, and 
have no impertinent questions 
asked.” 

“ Does the Countess’s cat ever 
do any work?” inquired puss. 

“Not a bit,” answered the mag¬ 
pie. “ I don’t suppose she ever 
caught a mouse in her life. Why 
should she? She has plenty to eat 



72 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

and drink, and nothing to do but to 
sleep or play all day long.” 

“What a life!” cried the cat. 
“And here am I, obliged to take 
the trouble to catch birds or any¬ 
thing I can, if I want to make out 
my dinner. What a world it 
is! 

“Your most obedient servant, 
ladies,” just at that moment hooted 
an old owl from a neighboring fir- 
tree. “ A fine evening to you ! ” 

“ Dear me, Mr. Owl! How you 
made me jump ! ” cried the magpie, 
quite crossly, “ I nearly tumbled 
down from the bough ! ” 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 73 

To tell the truth, the magpie did 
not particularly care for the owl’s 
company. He was apt to say very 
rude things sometimes; besides, he 
was thought a very sensible bird, 
and Mag always declared she hated 
sensible birds — they were so 
dreadfully dull, and thought them¬ 
selves so much wiser than other 
people. 

But the cat was not sorry to have 
a chance to tell her woes to any 
one who was so generally respected 
for his wisdom, and she said at 
once: — 

“We were talking, my dear sir, 



74 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

on the wide differences there are in 
the world.” 

“You may well say that,” an¬ 
swered the owl, giving a blink with 
his left eye. “ I suppose,” he 
added, turning to the magpie, “ that 
your ladyship finds a good deal of 
difference between your present 
abode and the Countess’s grand 
palace garden. I only wonder how 
you could bring yourself to make 
such a change — at your time of 
life, too.” 

“What a very rude speech,” 
thought the magpie; she fidgeted 
upon the branch, drew herself up, 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 75 

and muttered something about peo¬ 
ple minding their own business. 

“ But you, my dear cat,” went on 
the owl, “you have every reason to 
be satisfied with your lot in life.” 

“ I am not so sure of that,” said 
the cat. “ I think I have a good 
many reasons for being quite the 
contrary; the Countess’s cat has 
cream and buttered crumpets for 
breakfast, and sleeps on a beau¬ 
tiful soft cushion all night, and 
all day, too, if she likes it; and 
just look what a dull life of it 
I lead here! And I have nothing 
but the hearth to lie upon, and noth- 


76 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

ing for breakfast but milk and 
brown bread!” 

“And you ought to be thankful 
you can get that,” cried the owl, 
quite angrily. “ I can tell you 
what, Mrs. Puss, I have seen more 
of the world than you have, and I 
just say this for your comfort — if 
you could see how some poor cats 
live, you would be glad enough of 
your present condition.” 

“Humph!” muttered the cat, “I 
really don’t see howj you have con¬ 
trived to see so much of the world, 
sitting as you do in a tree all day. 
I should think that the magpie 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 77 

ought to know something of life, 
after the high society she has lived 
in; and I do say it’s a shame that 
one cat should have buttered crum¬ 
pets and cream for breakfast, just 
because she happens to live in a 
palace, while another has only 
brown sop, because she happens to 
live in a cottage ! ” 

“ But suppose,” replied the owl, 
“ that some other cat, who lives in a 
cellar, and never gets anything to 
eat, except what she can pick up in 
the gutters, should take it into her 
head to say, ‘ What a shame it is 
that some cats should have nice, 


78 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

V 

snug cottages over their heads, and 
warm hearths to sit by, and bread 
and milk for breakfast, while I am 
obliged to live in this horrid, cold 
cellar, and never know how to get 
a mouthful ? ” 

But the cat could not believe 
him. 

“My dear Mr. Owl,” she said, 
“ you can’t really mean that there 
are any such poor cats in the world. 
I am sure that the magpie, with all 
her experience of life, would have 
told me about it, if it were really so. 
You must be mistaken.” 

The magpie was, by this time, 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 79 

very tired of such a long silence, 
and she broke in with : — 

“ You will excuse me, my worthy 
friend, but really you do sit there 
so, day after day, blinking in the 
sun, without a soul to speak to, that 
I don’t wonder at your taking very 
strange fancies into your head. I 
can only say that, during the whole 
of my residence in the Palace of the 
Countess von Rustenfustenmusten- 
crustenberg, my late respected mis¬ 
tress, I never came in contact with 
any cat in the condition you are 
pleased to mention, and / should 
know something of the world, I 
think.” 



80 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

V 

“Well,” said the owl quietly, “ I 
will not dispute your ladyship’s 
knowledge of the world, but I 
strongly advise our friend, Mrs. 
Puss, to remain contented at home, 
and not try to improve her fortune 
by going into the town. People 
should learn to know when they 
are well off.” 

Just then, patter, patter, patter, 
came a few large drops through 
the leaves; the magpie, making 
a prodigious chattering, and de¬ 
claring that a tremendous storm 
was coming on, flew down from 
the bough; and whispering to the 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


81 


cat not to mind what the owl 
said, — “a stupid old bird,” — she 
hid herself, very snugly, in a 
hollow place in the trunk — not 
at all sorry, to tell the truth, to 
end the conversation. The owl 
nestled himself in a thick bush of 
ivy that grew near, and the cat 
ran into the cottage, to sit by the 
fire and reflect, for between her 
two friends her mind was a little 
puzzled. 

The old woman shut the cottage 
door, heaped some dry fir logs 
on the fire, and sat down to her 
spinning-wheel. The rain pelted 





82 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


against the shutters, the wind 
howled in the tree tops, and 
roared loudly in the forest behind 
the hut; it was a terrible night 
out of doors, but within the 
cottage it was snug enough; the 
fire was blazing merrily, the old 
woman’s wheel turned briskly 
round, the kettle was singing a 
low, quiet song to itself beside 
the crackling logs, and the cat 
was sitting on the hearth looking 
warm and comfortable. But she 
was not at all comfortable in her 
mind, for discontented people sel¬ 
dom are. It never entered her 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 83 

head to consider whether there were 
any poor cats abroad that night, 
without a shelter over them. In 
fact, she could think of nothing just 
at this time but the luxuries enjoyed 
by the fortunate cats who might 
happen to be born in grand palaces : 
so, curled up in the warmest corner 
of the hearth, she sat watching the 
little spouts of flame that kept flash¬ 
ing up from the pine logs, and 
wishing for the hundredth time 
that day, that she had had the 
good luck to be a palace cat. 
Presently a very strange thing 
happened. 


84 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

All of a sudden, she felt some-- 
thing very lightly touch her coat, 
and looking round, there stood, 
close by her, the most beautiful 
little thing that anybody ever 
dreamt of. She was not many 
inches high, her robe seemed 
made of gold and silver 
threads fine as gossamer, woven 
together. On her head she wore 
a circlet of diamonds, so small 
and bright that they looked like 
sparks of fire, and in her tiny 
hand she bore a long and very 
slight silver wand. 

The cat looked at her with 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 85 

astonishment; it was very odd 
that the old woman did not seem 
to see her at all. 

The beautiful little lady looked 
at the cat for a minute or two 
very steadily; and then said, “You 
are wishing for something; what 
is it?” 

By this time the cat had recov¬ 
ered from her fright, and was able 
to speak, so she answered, “ Please 
your Majesty, whoever you are, 
you have guessed right for once — 
I am wishing for something. I 
wish to live in the Palace of the 
magpie’s grand Countess ! ” 



86 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


Wonderful to relate — the words 
were no sooner spoken than the 
fairy struck her wand upon the 
floor three times, and lo! and 
behold! instantly there appeared a 
car made of four large scallop- 
shells joined together, and lined 
with rich velvet; the wheels were 
studded with the whitest pearls, 
and it was drawn by eight silver 
pheasants. The fairy seated her¬ 
self inside, and told the cat to 
step in after her. Puss obeyed, 
and in an instant the hut, the old 
woman, and the little garden, all 
had vanished, and she and’ the 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 87 

fairy were sailing through the air 
as fast as the eight pheasants 
could fly. 

“ Where in the world are we 
going, please your Majesty?” said 
poor puss in a dreadfully fright¬ 
ened tone, clinging to the sides 
of the car with her claws, so that 
she might not be tossed out. 
“Hush!” said the fairy, in a 
voice so solemn that the cat did not 
venture to ask another question. 

On, on, on they flew, and the 
wild heath swelled into moun¬ 
tains, and sank again into plain 
and valley ; and they heard be- 


88 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


neath them, like the distant sea, 
the rustling of the wind among 
the clumps of pine trees. On, 
on, the birds flew, till at length 
there appeared far below them, the 
glimmering lights and dim out¬ 
lines of a stately city. On, on, 
the birds flew, and the city grew 
nearer and nearer; turrets and 
spires and ancient gables rose in 
the bright moonlight, and the 
houses grew thicker and thicker 
together. 

At length the pheasants flew 
more slowly, and the cat saw that 
they were approaching a mar- 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 89 

vellous building. How her heart 
beat, partly with fright, partly 
with the rapid motion, partly 
with hope. Yes, they were really 
drawing near a magnificent Palace. 
It had high towers and carved 
gateways, that threw strange deep 
shadows upon the walls, and the 
panes of the lattices glittered like 
diamonds in the moonbeams, and 
smoke from the chimneys curled 
up into the cat’s face, and got 
down her throat, and made her 
sneeze dreadfully — she wondered 
how the fairy could bear it. But 
now, slowly, slowly, slowly, the 



90 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

magic car began to descend, till 
it was just on a level with one 
of the windows, which happened, 
very conveniently, to have been left 
wide open ; so in flew the pheasants, 
car and all, and alighted on the 
hearth-rug. “Jump out; be 
quick! ” cried the fairy. The cat 
did not wait to be told twice — 
she was out in a twinkling; but 
before she could turn her head 
round, car, fairy, and pheasants had 
vanished, and she was left alone in 
the strange room. And what a 
room it was! 11 was so large 

that three or four huts like her 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 91 

old mistress’s would have stood in 
it. The floor was covered with 
something so thick, so warm, and 
so beautiful, all over flowers in 
bright colors, that she had never 
seen anything like it before: in 
short, everything in the room was 
so fine or so soft or so large or 
so bright, that the cat could not 
conceive what such strange things 
could be meant for. 

H owever, she soon decided that 
the hearth-rug was the most de¬ 
lightful bed she had ever rested 
upon; and stretching out her 
limbs upon it, before the huge 


92 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


fire that was burning in the grate, 
she tried to collect her scattered 
ideas before she went any farther 
in these unknown regions. Sud¬ 
denly the door opened. 

“Dear me! What a pretty cat!” 
cried a waiting-maid, entering the 
room, “and just when we are 
wanting another, too. My lady, 
the Countess, will be quite 
pleased.” Then, coming up to 
the cat, she took her in her arms, 
and began stroking her most 
affectionately. “ Pretty Pussy! 
H ow did you ever get into the 
room ? Oh, I see! They left 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 93 

the window open, and so you 
wandered in out of the street, 
poor little cat. It’s really quite 
lucky, just as the old one is 
dead.” So saying, she again 
stroked the cat, and carried her 
away into the inner room, where 
there sat an old lady in an easy 
chair by the fire eating her 
supper. 

“ Please, your ladyship,” said 
the waiting-woman, “ here’s a poor 
cat come into the house to-night, 
just as we were wanting one — will 
your ladyship be pleased to let it 
remain here?” 



94 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

“To be sure,” said the old 
Countess von Rustenfustenmusten- 
crustenberg, — for it was she, — “ it 
has come just in time to supply 
the place of poor old Finette. 
Put it into Finette’s bed to-night, 
Ermengarde, and give it a good 
meal first, for I dare say it is 
hungry enough, poor creature. 
Bring it here" to me, and let me 
stroke it.” - 

You may imagine how puss 
purred her very loudest as the 
Countess patted her, and called her 
a pretty cat. She thought herself 
now the luckiest cat in the world. 

v 




THE DISCONTENTED CAT 95 

How she wished that spiteful old 
owl could but know about it. 
Ermengarde now took her back 
into the first room she had entered, 
and setting her down on the hearth¬ 
rug, went out. Presently she re¬ 
turned, and placed before the cat 
a dish that held such a supper 
as she had never dreamed of. 
H owever, she did full justice to 
it in time; and then, after some 
more patting and petting, the maid 
again took her up, and placed 
her by the side of the fire in a very 
pretty basket lined with soft cush¬ 


ions. 


96 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

The next morning the cat was 
awake early; the sun was shining 
through the satin curtains of the 
splendid room, and everything in 
it looked so very beautiful! How 
different from the old woman’s 
hut! So the cat sat up in the 
basket, and looked about her. 
After she had amused herself in 
this way for some time, Ermen- 
garde opened the door. 

“ Well, Pussy,” she said, “ so you 
are wide awake, and ready, I dare 
say, for your breakfast.” 

Now for the buttered crumpets! 
thought the cat. The maid went 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


97 


out, and quickly brought back a 
large saucer of rich milk, with some 
roll crumbled into it. No buttered 
crumpets! 

Puss was really disappointed. It 
was certainly very strange, but per¬ 
haps she should have some another 
morning. However, she made a 
very good breakfast, but she was 
a little cross all day. Soon after 
breakfast the Countess came in, fol¬ 
lowed by a lapdog — a fat, spoilt, 
disagreeable-looking animal — and 
the cat took a dislike to him at first 
sight. And as for the dog, he 
almost growled out loud when the 




98 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

Countess stooped down to stroke 
the cat. 

“ Now, Viper,” said the old lady, 
“ be good ! You know you are my 
own darling, that you are ; but you 
must not quarrel with poor pussy. 
No fighting, you know, Viper! ” 

Whereupon Viper struggled 
down out of his mistress’s arms, for 
she had taken him up to kiss him, 
and giving a short snarl, he 
mounted upon a stool before the 
fire, and sat eying his new ac¬ 
quaintance with such a fierce look 
that the poor cat really shook all 
over, and wished herself safe out of 



The Countess came in, followed by a lapdog.— Page 9 

















































THE DISCONTENTED CAT 99 

the Palace again. However, when¬ 
ever the Countess left the room, she 
always called Viper away, too; so 
they were not left together at all the 
first day. After a little the cat 
began to get used to Viper’s cross 
looks, and did not mind him a great 
deal: and the old lady petted and 
made so much of her, that she 
thought no cat had ever been so 
fortunate before. 

One day Viper was to dine 
with the cat, and Ermengarde 
brought in two plates this time, 
and to work they fell with all 
their might. Viper had eaten up 


100 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


nearly all his own dinner, and the 
cat was saving a beautiful merry¬ 
thought for her last titbit when, as 
ill luck would have it, the Countess 
was suddenly called out of the 
room. 

Instantly, with a growl that 
sounded like thunder in the cat’s 
ears, Viper darted right at the 
merrythought , crying: — 

“ You vile little wretch of a stray 
cat, do you suppose I shall allow 
you to come in here and rob me 
of my bones ? ” 

“ Indeed, my lord,” said the cat, 
very much frightened, “ I did not 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


IOI 


mean to take more than my 
share!” 

“ And pray, madam,” screamed 
Viper, “what do you mean by 
that ? Do you think that I have 
taken more than mine ? N ow, 
Mrs. Puss, just listen to me, once 
for all : if you give me any more of 
your impertinence, I’ll worry you to 
death in two minutes ! ” 

Poor puss! She trembled so 
from head to tail that she could 
hardly stand, but just as she was 
going to beg him not to be angry, 
the Countess came in again, and 
took Viper for his afternoon ride. 


102 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


Poor puss! She was very sad all 
evening, and she wished many 
times that she had never left her 
mistress’s cottage. True, she had 
cream for breakfast and chicken 
for dinner, but what was that 
worth, if every mouthful she ate 
she feared that Viper would snatch 
from her ? 

Fifty times did she wish herself 
a hundred leagues off! How care¬ 
ful she resolved to be to do nothing 
that could possibly offend the dog. 
And so, for the next three or four 
days, by dint of giving up to him 
all her best bones, and always 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


103 


jumping up from her cushion when¬ 
ever he wanted to lie upon it, she 
managed to get on in halfway 
peace with his lordship. But un¬ 
luckily, one morning, puss, finding 
herself all alone in the drawing¬ 
room, and feeling very sleepy — 
she had not rested for nights from 
very fear—thought she might as 
well take the chance of getting a 
nap. Jumping upon a high foot¬ 
stool near the fire, she was soon 
asleep. How long she had napped 
she could not tell, when she was 
awakened by a furious barking, 
and, opening her eyes, she saw 




104 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


Viper standing at a little distance, 
looking as if he were going into fits 
with rage. 

Poor puss! She recollected all 
in a moment that she had got 
upon Viper’s own footstool! She 
jumped down before you could 
count one! 

“You audacious little upstart!” 
cried the dog, as soon as he could 
speak from wrath. “ Do you think 
I shall submit to such liberties ? ” 

“ Indeed, I humbly beg your 
lordship’s pardon,” stammered the 
poor cat, “ but I really quite for¬ 
got — ” 



THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


105 


“Forgot, indeed!” roared Viper, 
“ I ll teach you to forget, Mrs. 
Puss! ” and making a tremendous 
dash at her, he would have finished 
her in no time, had not, fortu¬ 
nately, the window been open a 
little—just enough for the cat to 
get through. 

She was on the window-seat in 
an instant, and had scrambled out 
of the window before Viper, who 
was very fat, could come up to her. 
It was with some difficulty that he 
got upon the window-seat, and quite 
in vain that he tried to squeeze his 
fat body through the opening of 



io6 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

the window. How he growled 
with disappointed rage, as he stood 
on his hind legs on the window-seat, 
stretching his head, as far as his 
little short neck would allow, 
through the opening, to see what 
had become of puss. 

What had become of her ? She 
had dropped down into the street, 
and had crept into the shade of one 
of the heavy broad-stone carvings 
beneath the window, and there 
she lay, panting with fright, to get 
her breath a little, and think what 
was to be done. To go back to 
the Palace was out of the ques- 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


107 


tion. But then, where could she 
go ? Poor cat! What a muddle 
she was in! She lay snug for the 
best part of an hour before she 
dared venture out of her hiding- 
place. At last, peeping all about 
her, she crept out and ran, with all 
her speed, down the street, not 
knowing in the least where she 
was flying. She had not gone far 
before some ragamuffins caught 
sight of her. Shouting, whooping, 
laughing, they chased her. She 
ran faster and faster, and darting 
suddenly down an alley, was soon 
out of sight of her pursuers. She 


108 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

heard their screams and yellings 
growing fainter and fainter in the 
distance, and feeling that the im¬ 
mediate danger was past, she 
stopped to look, and see where she 
was. She found that she was in a 
little, dirty, miserable court, open at 
one end, through which she saw 
trees and green fields. So she ran 
on, and, in a short time, she found 
that she had left the town behind 
her, and was once more in the open 
country. At last she came to a 
small clump of trees which put her 
in mind of the forest near her old 
mistress’s hut. She climbed up in 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


109 


the largest one, knowing that she 
would be safe from dogs there 
at least, and finding a snug place 
among the branches in the middle 
of the tree, — for though it was 
autumn, yet the leaves were still 
pretty thick, — she made up her 
mind to pass the night there. 

But what was she to do for sup¬ 
per ? Her squabble with Viper 
had taken place before dinner, and 
now there was no chance of any¬ 
thing but what she could get her¬ 
self. Perhaps she might, with 
good luck, catch a bird before 
night, but that could not take the 




no 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


place of the nice bits of fowl and 
saucers of rich milk that Ermen- 
garde gave her every night. How¬ 
ever, she was too glad to be safe 
and snug up in the tree to be very 
fussy. So she made up her mind 
to lie there till it grew towards 
roosting time, and then see what 
she could find for supper. At last 
nightfall came, and the birds flew 
back to their nests. In a few 
minutes she caught a robin, but 
that was all she had that night, and 
weary and hungry the cat climbed 
back in the tree again, and was 
soon asleep. When she woke, she 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


ill 


was still hungry, and she ached in 
every bone. So three or four days 
passed, until poor puss began to 
think she would never be able to 
find her way back to her old home 
in the forest, and, at last, quite 
ready to die of cold and hunger, 
she stretched herself out on a thick 
bed of leaves, and cried, “ Oh, that 
I had never listened to that deceit¬ 
ful, mischievous magpie! ” 

It was drawing towards sunset; 
there had been several storms dur¬ 
ing the day, but, as the evening 
came on, the weather had cleared 
up a little, and a gleam of sun- 


112 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


shine just then shot out from 
among the black clouds, and fell 
upon something glittering beside 
her. 

She lifted her eyes slowly, for 
she had no strength to be alert now, 
and saw the bright and beautiful 
fairy, with her car drawn by the 
silver pheasants. 

“ Have you learnt yet to be con¬ 
tented with plain fare at home ? ” 
asked the fairy. 

“ Oh, if you would only take me 
back to my old mistress,” cried the 
poor cat, “ I should never, never be 
discontented again!” 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 113 

The fairy smiled, and touching 
her lightly with her silver wand, 
bade her close her eyes — another 
moment, and she bade her open 
them: and — most wonderful of all 
wonderful things that had hap¬ 
pened to her—the trees, the coun¬ 
try, the distant city, all were gone! 
There was a fine log-fire on the 
hearth, sparkling and crackling; 
whirr, whirr, whirr, went the old 
woman’s wheel, and there she sat 
in her chair just as usual. The 
wind was blowing and the rain 
was pelting against the shutters, 
exactly as it had done the night 



114 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

puss left the cottage in such a 
strange way. In fact, everything 
looked entirely the same. The 
cat rubbed her eyes, but nothing 
could she see of the fairy, or the 
car, or the silver pheasants. 

H ow had she got back, and so 
quick, too ? And the old woman 
did not seem at all surprised to 
see her. It was very odd! She 
could not make it out, anyhow; 
and at last it struck her that 
perhaps she might have been 
dreaming, and never been out of 
the hut at all. Yet those terrible 
growls of Viper’s, and those dis- 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 115 

mal nights and days in the trees! 
N o, they must have been real! 

But her puzzling was broken 
into by the cheerful voice of her 
old mistress, calling out, “ Come, 
my pussy! It is supper-time!” 
As she spoke, she rose from her 
spinning-wheel, and taking down 
some eggs and a cake of brown 
bread, with a large jug from her 
corner cupboard, she broke the 
eggs into the frying-pan, and they 
were soon hissing and sputtering 
over the fire. Then she placed a 
large saucer on the table, and 
broke some bread into it; and, 


n6 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

turning to the fire, she took off 
the frying-pan, and emptied the 
eggs into a dish on the table, 
and sat down to her supper. But 
before she tasted a bit herself, 
she poured some nice goat’s milk 
over the bread, and set it down 
on the hearth before the cat. 

Now I will venture to say 
puss never before in her life ate 
a meal so thankfully. She made 
a resolution after every mouth¬ 
ful never to say one word to that 
silly, chattering magpie again ; and 
never to wish any more foolish 
wishes, but to stay at home, do 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT n7 

her duty in catching her mistress’s 
mice, and be contented and thank¬ 
ful for the brown bread and milk, 
without troubling her head about 
countesses and buttered crumpets 
any more. 

She kept her word. She never 
spoke to the magpie afterwards, 
but was a steady friend of the 
owl until the day of his death; 
and when he did die, which was 
not until he was very old, he left 
to her, in his will, his share of 
the mice that lived in the neigh¬ 
borhood of the cottage. 

As to the magpie, finding that 


118 THE DISCONTENTED CAT 

her company was no longer 
wanted in that part of the world, 
she very wisely took her flight far 
away to the other side of the 
wood. 

Whether she still lives there, 
and goes on chattering about the 
grand things she used to see in 
the Palace of the Countess von 
Rustenfustenmustencrustenberg, is 
more than I can tell you. If 
you want to find out, you must 
go to the northern part of the 
Duchy of Kittencorkenstringen; 
and then you must walk seven¬ 
teen leagues and three-quarters still 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 119 

farther north; and then you must 
turn off to your right, just where 
you see the old fir-stump with 
the rook’s nest in it; and then you 
must walk eleven leagues and a 

o 

quarter more, and then turn to 
your left, and after you have kept 
on for about fifteen leagues more, 
you will see the wood where the 
magpie lives; and then if you 
walk quite through it to the other 
side, you will see the old 
woman’s cottage; and, if it should 
happen to be a fine day, I dare 
say you will see her sitting in the 
sunshine spinning, and, curled 


120 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


round beside her, the Contented 
Cat. 

“What a nice story, Impty,” said 
Dolly, as the black kitten purred 
out the last word. “ And don’t you 
just love that old owl?” 

“ I always did like owls myself,” 
Impty answered. “ They seem so 
much more like cats than birds. 
Their feathers are so thick they 
look like fur, and then, owls see 
in the dark as well as cats do, and 
they eat mice, and are really most 
respectable. But good night, now,” 
he added, jumping down from the 


THE DISCONTENTED CAT 


121 


bed, “we’ve had such a long story¬ 
time this evening, that I must go 
to sleep at once, if I am to have an¬ 
other tale ready for you to-morrow.” 


THE FOURTH NIGHT 

“We sat up so disgracefully late 
last night,” began Impty, yawning, 
“that I’m sleepy yet. / had to 
go to Cat-Land, you know, and al¬ 
though that’s very pleasant, still, it 
isn’t much of a rest.” 

“ What are you going to tell 
me to-night ? ” Dolly asked, as she 
made a place on the pillow for 
the black kitten. 

“To-night it’s going to be a 
shorter story,” Impty replied. 
“ They call it, in Cat-Land, ‘ The 
Cat Who Married a Mouse.’ ” 


122 



Once upon a time, a cat and a 
mouse made friends, and at last 
they grew to love each other very 
much, for the mouse was a clever 
little thing, and puss was as fine 
a cat as you could hope to see in 
a day’s journey. So they decided 
to marry, and live always in the 
same house, and be very comfort¬ 
able indeed. 


123 

























124 THE cat who married a mouse 

One day, during the summer, 
the cat said to his wife, “ My 
dear, we must take care to lay in 
a store for the winter, or we shall 
die with hunger; you, little Mousey, 
cannot venture to go about any¬ 
where for fear you should be 
caught in a trap, but I had bet¬ 
ter go and see about it.” 

This good advice was followed, 
and in a few days Tom came 
safely back with a large jar full 
of beautiful meat covered with fat, 
which he had found. They had a 
long talk about a place in which 
to hide this treasure; but at last 


THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 125 

Tom said: “I don’t know a bet¬ 
ter place than the church. No 
one ever thinks of robbing a 
church; so if we place the jar 
under the altar, and take care not 
to touch it, then we shall have 
plenty to eat in the winter.” 

The jar was carried to church, 
and put in a place of safety, but 
the meat did not stay there long. 

Tom kept thinking of what was 
in the jar, and longing so much 
for a taste, that at last he made 
an excuse to get away from home. 

“ Mousey,” he said, one day, “ I 
have had an invitation from one 


126 THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 

of my cousins to be present at 
the christening of her little son 
who was born a few weeks ago. 
H e is a beautiful kitten, she tells 
me, — gray, with black stripes, — and 
my cousin wishes me to be god¬ 
father.” 

“ Oh, yes! Go, by all means,” 
replied the mouse. “ But when 
you are enjoying yourself, think of 
me, and bring me a drop of the 
sweet, red wine if you can.” Tom 
promised to do as she asked him, 
and went off as if he were going 
to see his cousin. But after all it 
was not true. Tom had no 




THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 127 

cousin, nor had he been asked to 
be godfather. 

N o, he went right off to the 
church, and slipped under the 
table where the jar of meat stood, 
and sat looking at it. He did 
not look for long, however, for 
presently he went close up and 
began licking and licking the fat 
on the top of the jar, till it was 
nearly all gone. Then he took a 
walk on the roofs of the houses 
in the town, and finally stretched 
himself out in the sun, and 
stroked his whiskers as often as 
he thought of the delicious feast 


128 THE CAT. WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 


he had just had. As soon as the 
evening closed in, he returned 
home. 

“Oh! Here you are again,” 
said the mouse. “ Have you 

spent a pleasant day ? ” 

“Yes, indeed,” he replied. 

“Everything passed off very well.” 

“And what name did they give 
the young kitten ? ” she asked. 

“Top-off,” said Tom, quite 

coolly. 


“ Top-off! ” cried the 
“ That is a curious and 
mon name! Is it 
name ? ” 


a 


mouse. 

uncom- 

family 


THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 129 

“It is a very old name in our 
family,” replied the cat. “And 
it’s not worse than Thieves, as 
your ancestors were called.” 

Poor little mousey made no 
reply, and for a while nothing 
more was said about Tom’s 
cousins. 

But Tom could not forget the 
jar of meat in the church, and 
the thought of it made him long 
so much that he was obliged to 
make up another tale of a chris¬ 
tening. So he told the little 
mouse, that a lady-cat, his aunt, 
had invited him this time, and 


130 THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 

that the kitten was a great beauty, 
all black, excepting a white ring 
around its neck, so he could not 
refuse to be present. 

“For one day, dear Mousey, 
you will do me this kindness, and 
keep house at home alone ? ” he 
asked. 

The good little mouse willingly 
agreed, and Tom ran off; but as 
soon as he reached the town, he 
jumped over the churchyard wall, 
and very quickly found his way 
to the place where the jar of 
meat was hidden. This time he 
feasted so greedily, that when he 


THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 131 

had finished, the jar was more 
than half empty. 

“It tastes as nice as it smells,” 
said the cat, after his joyful day’s 
work was over and he had taken 
a nice nap. But as soon as he 
returned home, the mouse asked 
what name had been given to the 
kitten this time. 

Tom was a little puzzled to 
know what to say, but at last he 
replied: “ Ah! I remember now. 
They named it Half-Gone.” 

“Half-Gone! Why, Tom, what 
a queer name! I never heard of 
it before in my life, and I am 


132 THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 

sure it cannot be found in the 
‘ Register.’ ” 

The cat did not answer, and 
for a time all went on as usual, 
till another longing fit made him 
rub his whiskers and think of 
the jar of meat. “ Mousey,” said 
he, one day, “ of all good things 
there are always three; do you 
know I have had a third invita¬ 
tion to be godfather ? And this 
time the little kitten is quite 
black, without a single white hair. 
Such a thing has not happened 
in our family for many years, so 
you will let me go, won’t you ? ” 


THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 133 

“Top-Off and Half-G one are 
such curious names, Tom,” replied 
the mouse, “ that they are enough 
to make one suspicious.” 

“ Oh, nonsense ! ” said the cat. 
“ What can you know about 
names, staying here at home all 
day long in your gray coat and 
soft fur, with nothing to do but 
catch crickets ? You can know 
very little of what men do in the 
world.” 

Poor little mousey was silent, 
and she patiently remained at 
home during the absence of the 
greedy, deceitful cat, who, this 


134 THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 

time, feasted himself till he had 
quite cleaned out the jar and left 
it empty. 

“ When all is gone, then one 
can rest,” said he to himself, as he 
returned home at night quite sleek 
and fat. 

“Well, Tom,” said the mouse, 
as soon as she saw him, “ and 
what is the name of this third 

child ? ” 

“ I hope you will be pleased at 
last,” he replied; “it is All-Gone.” 

“ All-Gone ! ” cried the mouse, 
“ that is the most suspicious name 
yet; I can scarcely believe it. 


THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 135 

What does it mean ? ” Then she 
shook her head, rolled herself up, 
and went to sleep. 

After this Tom was not invited 
to any more christenings ; but as 
the winter came on, and in the 
night no provisions could be 
found, the mouse thought of the 
careful store they had laid up, 
and said to the cat, “Come, Tom, 
let us fetch the jar of meat from 
the church; it will be such a nice 
relish for us.” 

“Ah, yes,” he replied. “It will 
be a fine relish to you, I dare say, 
when you stretch out your little 


136 THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 

tongue to taste it! ” So he took 
himself out of the way, and 
mousey went to the church by 
herself. But what was her vexa¬ 
tion at finding the jar still stand¬ 
ing in the same place, but quite 
empty. 

Then she returned home, and 
found Tom looking as if he did 
not care, although he was at first 
rather ashamed to face her. 

“ I understand now,” said the 
little mouse, quite gently. “ I can 
see what has happened. A fine 
friend you have been to deceive 
me in this manner! When you 



“ I UNDERSTAND NOW,” SAID THE LITTLE MOUSE, QUITE GENTLY 

Page 136. 











THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 137 

told me you were going to stand 
godfather to the three little kit¬ 
tens, you never visited your rela¬ 
tions at all; but, instead of that, 
you went to the church three 
times, and ate up all the meat in 
the jar. I know, now, what you 
meant by Top-Off, Half-Gone,— ” 

“Will you be quiet?” cried the 
cat, in a rage. “If you say an¬ 
other word, I will eat you.” 

But the poor little mouse had 
got the name on the tip of her 
tongue when Tom interrupted her, 
and she could not stop herself. 
Out it came— “ All-Gone! ” 



138 THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE 

Tom, who only wanted an ex¬ 
cuse to eat up his poor little wife, 
sprang upon her the minute she 
uttered the word, broke her back 
with his paw, and ate her up! 

“Oh, Impty,” cried Dolly, as the 

story ended, “ what a wicked cat! 

I hope you would never, never do 

such a thing! You wouldnt , would 
} 99 

you r 

“ No,” answered the kitten, yawn¬ 
ing again, “ I never should. In the 
first place, I’d not dream of marry¬ 
ing a mouse. / always eat ’em.” 


THE FIFTH NIGHT 

“I’m a little late this evening,” 
purred Impty, as he rubbed up 
against Dolly the next night. “ But 
the large yellow cat across the street 
is giving a Catnip Tea, and I simply 
had to stay for one cup.” 

“ I do hope that you’re going to 
tell me a pleasanter story this time,” 
said the little girl. “ I dreamed all 
night long about that poor mouse.” 

“To-night,” said the black kitten, 

“ I am going to tell you of Mother 

139 


140 THE FIFTH NIGHT 

Michel, and the wonderful adven¬ 
tures of her cat, Moumouth. It is 
very exciting, and it turns out 
beautifully in the end.” 



More than a hundred years 
ago there lived in Paris an old 
countess, Madame de la Grenou- 
illiere, a widow who had no chil¬ 
dren and who loved animals very 
dearly. But she was quite unfor¬ 
tunate, for none of her pets, no 
matter how much she loved or 
cared for them, ever lived. One 















142 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

by one they died, and, at last, 
the Countess decided that she 
would have no more. H owever, 
one day, as she was riding home 
in her chariot, she saw a crowd 
of children tormenting a poor 
street-cat. They had tied a sauce¬ 
pan to its tail, and goodness 
knows what would have happened 
if Madame had not put her head 
out of the window and called to 
them that whoever should bring 
the cat to her would be rewarded 
with a piece of gold. 

The crowd of children all ran 
after the cat, not to torment him 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 143 

now, but to bring him safely to 
the rich lady and gain the re¬ 
ward ; and he was nearly as much 
in danger from kindness as he 
had been from cruelty. At last 
he was caught, and brought safely 
to the Countess. Once she had 
him safe in the chariot, she took 
a good look at him, and then 
said: “ Poor pussy! What a very 
ugly little cat you really are! ” 
But when the cat turned to look 
reproachfully at her, she ex¬ 
claimed: “Well, he may be ugly, 
but he certainly has very fine 
eyes. Here,” she added, turning 


144 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

to her companion, “ once more 
I will have a pet. Let us take 
this poor pussy with us, and see 
what a comfortable, happy life at 
my fireside will do for him.” 

So saying, she placed him in 
the arms of her friend, Mother 
Michel, and together they all 
three rode home. 

Besides her companion, there 
was another one of her household 
upon whom the Countess greatly 
relied, and this was her steward, 
whom the old lady had nicknamed 
Lustucru. Now Lustucru was as 
bad as Mother Michel was good; 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 145 

he hated all animals as much as 
the Countess and her companion 
loved them; and, when he saw 
them bringing home another cat, 
he was very angry, although he 
pretended to be pleased, and called 
the cat “ pretty puss ” more than 
once. And this the cat seemed 
to know, for he walked away 
from Master Lustucru whenever 
he saw him coming. 

At the end of four or five 
weeks you would never have 
known Moumouth. They had 
given him this name because, so 
an old scholar told the Countess, 


146 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

that Moumouth, in Hebrew, meant 
“saved from the sauce-pans.” 
And, in a second month, Mou¬ 
mouth had grown fat, and his fur 
shone as if it were satin. 

But something, which always 
does turn up, even in the hap¬ 
piest cat’s life, came to disturb 
Moumouth’s peace of mind. 
Madame de la Grenouilliere was 
called to Normandy by the sick¬ 
ness of her sister, and, alas, 
Moumouth could not po with her 
because the sick lady did not like 
cats. 


“ Come here, Mother Michel,” 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 147 

said the Countess; “ I am going 
to trust my precious cat to you. 
Take care of him well, and if, on 
my return, he is alive and thriv¬ 
ing, I will leave you a pension of 
three hundred dollars a year.” 

“ But, Madame,” replied her com¬ 
panion, “ I will take care of Mou- 
mouth because I love him as if he 
were my own.” 

“ I know that,” said the old 
Countess, “ but be very, very care¬ 
ful, and I will reward your zeal.” 

When the steward heard this 
promise, he was wild with wrath. 
“ Mother Michel will have 


148 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

everything,” he said, “ and there 
will be nothing left for me. 
Well, Moumouth, once the 
Countess is out of the way, we’ll 
see about your precious life.” 

The Countess set out on her 
journey, and Mother Michel, 
worthy of the confidence that had 
been shown her, now took the 
greatest care of Moumouth. She 
petted him, she patted him, and 
fed him so well that he grew 
even handsomer. All this time 
Lustucru was looking on, waiting 
for a chance to kill Moumouth 
when his faithful guardian should 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 149 

not be on the watch. One even¬ 
ing, when the cat was asleep be¬ 
fore the fire, Lustucru came to 
Mother Michel, and begged her 
to go down and see one of the 
servants who was very ill with 
rheumatism. As soon as she had 
left the room, he seized Mou- 
mouth, who had not even time to 
mew, and threw him head over 
heels into a large bag. Then the 
wicked man ran swiftly across the 
garden, and out into the street 
toward the Seine, and, the river 
once reached, he opened the bag 
and tossed Moumouth into the 


ISO MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

water. H e was in such haste to 
get home that he did not wait to 
see the poor cat struggling for 
his life in the river; nor did he 
see, a moment later, Moumouth 
crawling to a little ledge just at 
the foot of one of the arches of 
the bridge. 

Instead, he ran home quickly, 
for fear Mother Michel would 
have finished her visit, and come 
to look for Moumouth. He slipped 
quietly into bed, and when, in a 
little while, she came and knocked 
at his door, he pretended to have 
just waked up from a sound sleep. 



He opened the bag, and tossed Moumouth into the water 

Page 149. 









MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 151 

“ Moumouth lost! ” he cried, pre¬ 
tending to be very sorry indeed. 
“Oh, I’ll get up immediately and 
help you look for him. Such a 
fine fellow ! It would be a thou¬ 
sand pities if anything happened 
to him.” And so, at the head of 
all the servants of the house, Lus- 
tucru helped Mother Michel search 
from garret to cellar. 

But was Moumouth shivering all 
this time just above the cold waters 
of the Seine ? Oh, no, although 
there for a number of hours he 
sat all huddled up, not daring to 
take his life in his paws and swim 


152 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

to shore. But at daybreak, about 
five o’clock in the morning, two 
fishermen came to the bridge to 
try their luck. What good fortune 
for Moumouth ! As soon as the 
lines were let down he seized them, 
and the fishermen, imagining from 
his weight that he must be some 
splendid fish, hauled him quickly 
in. But when, instead of a fish, a 
cat bounded off on the bridge, they 
stood in astonishment for a mo¬ 
ment, and then ran after him as 
fast as they could. Moumouth re¬ 
doubled his speed, and escaped his 
pursuers by jumping through the 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 153 

open windows of a bakery. Here 
he found some bags of flour, and, 
tired out, he went to sleep at once. 
But he was so hungry that he soon 
woke up, and remembering his old 
habit of catching mice and rats 
when he was a gutter-cat, he sprang 
at the first mouse that popped its 
head out of a hole. Round and 
round the room he chased his prey, 
and the baker’s boy, seeing the 
hunt, lifted a broom to hit him as 
he passed, but the baker forbade 
him to strike Moumouth. “He is 
a good mouser,” he said; “ he shall 
stay here and rid the bakery of 


154 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

all the rats and mice that are eat¬ 
ing us out of house and home.” 

When Moumouth heard these 
words he grew so frightened — be¬ 
lieving that he would never see 
Mother Michel again — that he 
sprang through the nearest win¬ 
dow, and so escaped into the 
street. H ere he wandered among 
the back-alleys until nightfall, and 
then he scurried home as fast as 
he could scamper. He hid in the 
garret and timidly crept behind 
some boxes to wait until he should 
hear Mother Michel moving: about 
downstairs the next morning. 




MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 155 

All this time the household was 
searching still for Moumouth. The 
wicked Lustucru pretended to hear 
him crying in the garden; then, 
after they had vainly searched in 
every thicket and hedge, he would 
cry: “No. I’m sure that I heard 
him mewing in the cellar.” At 
last, laughing to himself, he said, 
“ Do you know, I think he must 
be in the garret.” Up the long 
stairway Mother Michel ran, and 
who should come out and rub af¬ 
fectionately against her skirts but 
Moumouth ! 

Never was any one so glad to 


156 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

see a cat before; and Lustucru 
pretended to be as happy as the 
old lady herself. After this Mother 
Michel never let Moumouth go out 
of her sight; she petted him nearly 
to death and made him sleep in 
her room. There was no chance 
for Lustucru to catch the cat alone 
again. 

“ But he shall not escape me,” 
thought the wicked steward, and 
keeping this idea always in his 
mind, he bought a package of rat- 
poison, and, as he hid it safely 
away, he cried to himself, “ This 
‘ Death to Rats ’ shall soon be 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 157 

‘Death to Cats!’” The next day, 
when Mother Michel brought up 
Moumouth’s dinner,—good chicken 
patties,— Lustucru sprinkled poison 
all over them. Moumouth, hun- 
gry as he was, refused to eat, and 
Mother Michel, vexed at last with 
the whims of her charge, said: 
“Well! If you don’t eat those pat¬ 
ties, Sir, you’ll get nothing else 
for dinner! Why, I’ve a good 
mind to eat them myself.” 

“ Oh, don’t! ” cried Lustucru, 
jumping up in alarm. “A Chris¬ 
tian should not eat food that’s 
been prepared for an animal.” 




158 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

“ Well,” replied Mother Michel, 
“either the cat eats those patties, 
or he goes hungry.” 

And hungry poor Moumouth 
did go, all that day and all the 
next, living on scraps which the 
cook threw to him. But eat the 
poisoned food the clever cat 
would not. So the patties stayed 
locked up in Mother Michel’s 
cupboard, and they were soon for¬ 
gotten, except by Lustucru. He 
had failed so often to kill Mou¬ 
mouth himself, that he knew he 
must try some other means. 

And Fate, which isn’t always 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 159 

kind to cats, threw just such a 
chance, he thought, in his way. 
One morning, as he was return¬ 
ing early from market, he saw a 
little ragged boy gazing hungrily 
at the open kitchen, and, no doubt, 
wishing himself well inside. 

“ What is your name ? ” asked 
Lustucru. 

“ Faribole, Monsieur,” answered 
the little boy, making a low bow. 

“ And what are you doing here, 
spying in my mistress’s windows ? 
Are you thinking that you would 
like to be one of her household?” 
“I was, indeed, Monsieur,” an- 


160 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

swered Faribole. “ Could you tell 
me if there is any need of a scul¬ 
lion, for I would willingly do any 
work, I am so hungry and home¬ 
less.” 

“ I am the steward,” said Mon¬ 
sieur Lustucru, proudly, “ and I 
alone have the power to engage 
you. This I will do if you will 
promise to obey me in all things.” 

“ Oh, I will do your bidding 
in everything,” the little fellow 
pleaded. 

“ Then,” said the steward, “ fol¬ 
low me, and I will instruct you in 
your duties.” 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 161 

When they were safely in the 
house, Lustucru turned to Fari- 
bole and said, “ Do you see that 
cat ? ”— pointing to the sleeping 
Moumouth. “You must try to 
make that creature your friend, for 
he is the chief pet of our mis¬ 
tress, Madame de la Grenouilliere. 
Make him love you, make him 
your friend, and all will be well.’’ 

For a month Faribole played 
with Moumouth; he coaxed him, 
he petted him, and, at last, com¬ 
pletely won the cat’s heart. Mou¬ 
mouth would have followed him 
anywhere. 



162 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

At the end of a month’s time, 
Lustucru called the boy to him. 

“ You have done all I told you 
to,” he said, as if he were very 
much pleased. 

“ And now shall I stay here 
always, Monsieur?” Faribole asked 
eagerly. 

“ That depends upon your being 
willing to do what I tell you, my 
lad,” answered the steward. “ You 
must, to-night, call Moumouth out 
into the garden. There you and 
I will put him into a large sack, 
and together we will beat him to 
death.” 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 163 

“N ever! Never!” cried Fari- 
bole, who loved the cat very 
much. “ I could never do such a 
dreadful thing as that!” 

For answer Lustucru went to 
the closet where the boy’s ragged 
garments, that he had worn upon 
first entering the house, were 
hanging. 

“ Take off the clothes I gave 
you, and go away instantly in 
these rags, if you are not willing 
to obey me! ” said Lustucru, sav- 
agely. 

In vain poor Faribole wept 
and begged for Moumouth’s 


164 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

life to be spared, but the wicked 
steward refused to listen to an¬ 
other word; and, at last, Faribole, 
growing less and less brave as he 
thought of his hungry days and 
wet nights on the pavements 
of Paris, promised that he 
would help Lustucru do this 
cruel deed. 

The next day, as the afternoon 
was drawing to a close, Mother 
Michel called Faribole to her and 
said: “ I am going out on an 
errand, now, and I am going to 
leave Moumouth with you. Be 
kind to him, and the Countess 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 165 

will reward your kindness when 
she returns.” 

Alas! No sooner had she 
started than Faribole, the tears 
running, down his face, coaxed 
Moumouth into the garden. 
There, at the end of a long alley, 
stood Lustucru waiting, sack in 
hand. He seized the cat, thrust 
him in the sack, and, in spite of 
all his struggles, tied the cord in 
a tight knot. He raised his club, 
and was about to strike when 
back came Mother Michel, out of 
breath from running so fast. 

“ Our dear mistress is return- 


166 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

ing, Lustucru,” she cried, panting. 
“ Come, let us go to meet her 
with all the rest of the house¬ 
hold.” 

She turned, and was soon out 
of sight. 

“H ere ! ”• cried Lustucru, out of 
patience at the delay. “ Here, 
Faribole! Take this wretched 
cat, beat him until he can’t stir, 
and then throw him into the 
Seine.” And he, too, ran away 
to welcome the Countess home 
again. When he returned, there 
was Faribole, his face all wet 
with tears, but no Moumouth! 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 167 

“ Have you done as I told 
you ? ” asked the wicked man, 
and the boy nodded his head, too 
sad to speak. 

But here they heard the voice 
of Mother Michel calling Fari- 
bole. 

“ Faribole! Faribole! Come 
hither! Our mistress, the dear 
Countess, wishes you to bring her 
dear cat to her immediately.” 

Faribole went slowly, and with 
his head hanging. 

“Oh, Mother Michel!” he 
cried, “ while Moumouth and I 
were at play in the garden, he 


168 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

got frightened by some boys who 
were passing, and ran away to 
hide in the hedge.” 

The Countess was very much 
grieved, and Mother Michel tried 
to console her. “ Once he was 
lost for several days, and he came 
back unharmed,” she said. 

But though they looked every¬ 
where, and offered rewards, no 
Moumouth was to be found. 

At last Mother Michel decided 
to go to the fortune-teller around 
the corner, hoping that there she 
might hear some news of her 
lost pet. 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 169 

The fortune-teller turned over 
her pack of cards. “You are 
looking for something that is 
lost,” she said. “ Ah, I see by 
the cards that it is a cat.” She 
turned over a few more, “ My 
poor lady,” she said sorrowfully, 
“your cat has been sold to a 
butcher, and eaten for a rabbit! ” 

Mother Michel was just begin¬ 
ning to wring her hands with 
grief, when she heard a violent 
scratching at the door, and then, 
right through a pane of glass 
bounded Moumouth, and jumped 
straight into her friendly lap. 


170 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

“You wicked woman!” cried 
Mother Michel, angrily; “ first 
you steal our cat, and then you 
pretend that he is dead. Oh, this 
is a fine tale to tell my mistress, 
the Countess. She’ll have you 
put in prison for this! ” 

“ Mercy ! Mercy ! ” begged the 
fortune-teller, falling on her knees. 
“ I did not know the cat was yours. 
It was brought to me by a little 
lad named Faribole, who knew I 
wanted one. Forgive me! Do 
not have me punished for a thing 
that I did not know was wrong.” 

Mother Michel was so happy 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 171 

at finding Moumouth that she 
readily forgave the poor woman, 
and hurried home to show the 
dear pet to the Countess. 
Madame de la Grenouilliere was 
as delighted to see Moumouth as 
her companion had been to find 
him. When they had petted him 
and fed him and, at last, left 
him asleep on a down cushion, 
they sent for Faribole, and asked 
him why he had done so wicked 
a thing. 

“ Oh, ” cried the poor boy, “ I 
wanted to save him from Monsieur 
Lustucru, and that seemed to be 


172 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

the only way. He wanted me to 
beat him to death.” 

No one believed him, of course. 
The steward indignantly denied 
such intentions, and poor Faribole 
was sent away in disgrace. 

But Lustucru’s wickedness 
could not always remain hidden. 
Some days after Moumouth’s 
return, while looking through her 
cupboard, Mother Michel found 
three dead rats and the remains 
of the chicken patties that Mou- 
mouth had refused to eat. She 
carried them to the Countess, and 
they sent for the steward. 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 173 

“ Oh, Lustucru,” said his mis¬ 
tress, “the rats are troubling me 
so in here that I wanted to know 
if you had any rat-poison.” 

“Certainly, Madame,” he replied, 
bowing. “ Wait one moment, and 
I will bring it to you.” 

The Countess soon found that 
the two poisons were exactly the 
same, and, besides, there began to 
be people who said that they had 
seen Lustucru throw Moumouth 
from the bridge into the Seine. 
The steward, who feared that he 
would receive his just reward, ran 
away suddenly one night, and took 


174 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

service shortly after on a ship that 
was wrecked on the Sandwich Is¬ 
lands. And so all his sins were 
punished, for it is said that the 
cannibals ate him for dinner the 
next day! 

As for Faribole, he was taken 
again into the Countess’s service, 
where, so willingly did he work, 
and so earnestly did he repent of 
his misdoing, that Mother Michel 
adopted him as her own son. 
When the old Countess died, she 
left in her will, as she had prom¬ 
ised, an annuity of three hundred 
dollars to Moumouth and Mother 


MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 175 

Michel, to be shared between them, 
and when one died, the other was to 
receive the whole legacy. So these 
three— Mother Michel, Moumouth, 
and Faribole—-lived together happy 
and contented all their days. And 
when Moumouth died, — for all 
cats must, you know, — he had 
a grand funeral, and a fine monu¬ 
ment with the story of his life writ¬ 
ten on it in Latin, so that all might 
know how good and wise a cat he 
had been. 

“ There! ” purred Impty. “ Isn’t 
that a fine tale ? And, you see, it 





176 MOTHER MICHEL AND HER CAT 

did turn out well, didn’t it? Why, 
Moumouth became so famous that 
people made a nursery rhyme out 
of his story. French children sing 
it to this day, and know it as well 
as you do ‘Three Little Kittens.’” 

“Oh, Impty ! What lovely 
stories the King of the Cats does 
tell you! I wish I could go to 
Cat-Land some night. Couldn’t 
I ? ” Dolly coaxed. 

“ I’ll see,” said Impty, settling 
himself for his sleep-journey. “To¬ 
night I’ll ask my grandfather, and 
maybe he’ll let you come.” 


THE SIXTH NIGHT 


“Can I go to Cat-Land, Impty 
dear?” asked Dolly, sitting up 
eagerly, as soon as the black kit¬ 
ten jumped on the bed. 

“ No, you can’t,” Impty an¬ 
swered. “I’m awfully sorry, but my 
grandfather says that unless you 
can change into a cat you can’t 
go; and people can’t change into 
cats, nor cats into people, nowadays. 
I can’t imagine wanting to be a 
human being, but there was a cat 
once that did. Did you ever hear 
of her ? ” 


177 


VENUS AND THE CAT 



A A 

M 4 % \ 


There was, once upon a time, a 
cat who was not at all satisfied 
with herself. It was not that she 
wished to be more beautiful, but, 
because she had fallen in love with 
a young man, she wanted to be 
changed into a girl, that he might 
love her in return. So she prayed 
before the altar of Venus, and 

178 






































VENUS AND THE CAT 


179 


begged that the goddess would 
make her a beautiful maiden. So 
long and so earnestly did the cat 
pray, that Venus at last grew sorry 
for her, and changed her into one 
of the loveliest girls in the world, 
so beautiful, indeed, that, as soon 
as he saw her, the young man 
begged her to marry him. Every¬ 
thing was going as happily as pos¬ 
sible, when Venus, just to see if 
she had been able to give the cat 
another nature in changing her 
shape, put a mouse down before 
her. Instantly the girl sprang from 
her seat, and chased the mouse 


i8o 


VENUS AND THE CAT 


round and round the room, caught 
it, and would have eaten it, had not 
Venus turned her at once into a cat 
again, for she saw it was of no use, 
and that what was bred in the bone 
would always stick to the flesh. 

“ Of course it’s a pity she didn’t 
have more sense,” added Impty, 
sagely; “ but then, mice are such 
a temptation ! iEsop — my grand¬ 
father says he wrote the fable hun¬ 
dreds and hundreds of years ago — 
knew just as much about animals 
as he did about men. I’m going 
to tell you his story of ‘ The Cat 
and the Fox.’” 





Venus turned her at once into a cat again. — Page 180 















. 






One day a cat met a fox in the 
wood. “ Ah,” she thought, “ he is 
clever and sensible, and talked of 
in the world a good deal; I will 
speak to him.” So she said, quite 
in a friendly manner: “Good morn¬ 
ing, dear Mr. Fox; how are you? 
And how do things go with you 

in these hard times ? ” 

i s i 


\ 








182 THE CAT AND THE FOX 

The fox, full of pride, looked 
at the cat from head to foot, and 
hardly knew what to say to her for 
a long time. At last he replied: 
“Oh, you poor little whisker-cleaner, 
you old gray tabby, you hungry 
mouse-hunter, what are you think¬ 
ing about to come to me, and to 
stand there and ask me how I 
am getting on ? What do you 
know, and how many tricks have 
you : 

“ I only know one trick,” an¬ 
swered the cat, meekly. 

“ And pray what is that ? ” he 
asked. 


THE CAT AND THE FOX 183 

I 

“Well,” she said, “if the hounds 
are behind me, I can spring up into 
a tree out of their way and save 
myself.” 

“Is that all?” cried the fox. 
“ Why, I am master of a hundred 
tricks, and have, over and above 
all, a sackful of cunning. But I 
pity you, Puss, so come with me, 
and I will teach you how to baffle 
both men and hounds.” 

At this moment a hunter with 
four hounds was seen approach¬ 
ing. The cat sprang nimbly up 
a tree and seated herself on the 
highest branch, where,-• by the 


r84 THE CAT AND THE FOX 

spreading foliage, she was quite 
hidden. 

“ Turn out the sack, Master 
Fox, turn out the sack ! ” cried 
the cat; but the hounds had al¬ 
ready seized him, and held him 
fast. 

“Ah, Master Fox,” cried the 
cat, “your hundred tricks are not 
of much use to you. Now, if you 
had only known one like mine, you 
would not have lost your life so 
quickly.” 

“And now I really must go,” 
said Impty. “ Fm sorry not to 


THE CAT AND THE FOX 185 

tell you more to-night, but our 
Caterwauling Class meets at eight 
in the backyard, and I’m leader. 
They say I’ve a wonderful voice 
for so young a cat. Isn’t it lucky 
that the shutter doesn’t close 
quite tight? If it did I’d never 
see the fence, nor my friends, 
either, and, just as likely as not, 
they’d elect Tabby Gray in my 
place out of spite. Good-by ! ” 


THE SEVENTH NIGHT 


Outside it was cold and wet; 
twilight had come early, and 
Impty trotted in shivering and a 
little cross. 

“ I almost wish that I wasn’t 
black,” he growled, as he cuddled 
up beside Dolly. “Miss Jane’s 
airing her furs; she says there’s 
frost in the air, and she picked 
me up just because she thought 
I was her old muff. The idea 
of mixing up a respectable kitten 
with a monkey muff! ” 


THE SEVENTH NIGHT 187 

“What did you do, Impty?” 
asked Dolly, curiously. 

“ Oh, I just stuck out my 
claws, and miaoued a little. Any 
cat would, and then she said, 
‘ There’s that everlasting kitten ! ’ 
and shooed me out of the door, 
and I got all wet before I could 
run in again.” 

“ Poor kitty! ” said the little 
girl, patting him. 

“To-night is Hallowe’en,” went 
on Impty, “and people used to 
believe that witches and cats 
could go where they pleased on 
that night. They can’t, really. 


188 


THE SEVENTH NIGHT 


I wish they coulcl, for then I’d 
sail off through the air with Miss 
Jane’s furs, and never, never 
bring them back! Or, perhaps, 
I’d bite her boa in two like ‘The 
Cat and the Pudding-Bag String.’ 
But it does seem a little odd that, 
long, long years ago on this very 
Eve of All Hallows, Dick 
Whittington heard the Bow Bells 
calling to him, ‘ Turn, turn again, 
Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor 
of London! ’ Do you know the 
tale of Dick Whittington and his 
wonderful Cat ? If not, I’m 
going to tell it to you to-night.” 



A long, long time ago there 
lived in England a little country 
lad, Dick Whittington by name. 
Now Dick’s father was a poor 
man, a farm-laborer, working early 
and late in the fields that his family 
might be able to live on even 
the simplest fare. Sometimes there 
was very little of this, and at last 

189 











































igo DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 

Dick made up his mind to go to 
London and win a fortune for the 
whole family. There, so he had 
heard, the streets were paved with 
gold, and any one might become 
rich for the asking. 

So one night, when every one 
else was fast asleep in his bed, 
Dick tied his Sunday clothes to¬ 
gether in a bundle and ran away 
on the wide high-road that led to 
London-Town. Many a weary mile 
he walked ; and, when he was very 
hungry, and it seemed as if his tired 
feet could not take another step, he 
cheered himself up by thinking of 


DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 191 

those streets of gold. At last he 
came to London, and what was 
his disappointment to see only 
rough cobble-stones, looking just 
like those in the market-square near 
his own home. As he was wander¬ 
ing up and down, footsore and not 
knowing where to go, he caught 
sight of a little golden-haired girl. 
It was the only gold he had seen 
since he came to London. She 
stared from the window above at 
the little ragged fellow, and then, 
as if she suddenly thought that he 
might be hungry, she ran down and 
begged the porter to let Dick in. 


192 DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 

Now this little girl was Alice 
Fitzgerald, the daughter of a rich 
merchant, his only child, and pet¬ 
ted and loved by all who knew her. 
Even the cook, crabbed and cross 
to every one else, could deny her 
nothing; and because she asked 
him so prettily to feed the hungry 
boy, he took Dick in, gave him 
some supper, and, the next day, 
made him his scullion. 

Dick worked harder than he had 
ever worked in all his life before. 
He never saw Alice except when 
she went out to walk or ride, for 
the kitchens were a long way from 


DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 193 

the parlors above. The cook was 
cross, the work was dull, and, worst 
of all, the little, chilly garret in 
which the boy slept was filled 
with mice and rats. These wor¬ 
ried him so, running over him at 
night, waking him from the happy 
dream that he was at home again, 
that he spent his last penny for a 
cat which a ragged urchin was carry¬ 
ing through the streets. Soon the 
mice and the rats ceased to trouble 
him, and life seemed easier after all. 

Master Fitzgerald, the merchant 
in whose kitchens Dick worked, 
was a kind-hearted man, and 


194 DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 

whenever he sent out a ship laden 
with his goods, he let his servants 
add some venture of their own, 
too, upon which they could make 
a profit. Soon after puss had 
driven away all the rats and the 
mice in her little master’s garret, 
the merchant called together his 
household, and asked each one 
what they would send with his fine 
new outward-bound ship. Some 
brought one thing, some another, 
but Dick Whittington had only 
his cat to send. All the servants 
laughed at him, and the cook 
called him a little fool for put- 



Some brought one thing, some another, but Dick Whit 

TINGTON IIAU ONLY HIS CAT TO SEND. — Page 194. 










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DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 195 

ting so silly a thing on his master’s 
vessel. But the merchant said 
that if Dick wished to sell the 
cat it should go, and pussy was 
carefully put on board the ship. 
After she was gone how Dick 
did miss her! He had never 
realized how fond he was of her 
until she was so far away that 
he could not call her back; and 
the rats and the mice, as if they 
knew that there was no cat lying 
in wait for them, ran back into 
the garret again. At last Dick 
grew so discouraged that he 
packed his clothes in a little 


196 DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 

bundle and stole out of the house 
so ftly one All Hallow’s Kve to 
run back to his home. There the 
skies were blue, and the people 
kind, and even if the streets were 
not paved with gold, all the 
woods and fields were yellow 
with Autumn. 

But, as he walked quickly 
along the road that led to the 
open country, the great Bells of 
Bow Church began to ring, and the 
sound came to Dick Whittington’s 
ears like a voice, for it called, 
“Turn, turn again, Whittington, 
thrice Lord Mayor of London! ” 


DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 197 

The little boy listened, and said 
to himself, “ Perhaps there’s good 
luck yet in store for me! ” 
and once more the Bells of Bow 
pealed out, “ Turn, turn again, 
Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of 
London.” 

So back to his garret and his 
work went Dick, resolved to stay 
a while longer at least, and give 
the Bow Bells’ prophecy a chance 
to come true. The cook was still 
cross, the work was as hard as 
ever, and, as the mice and rats 
gnawed and gnawed, Dick 
missed his furry friend very much. 


198 DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 

But he kept on steadily working, 
and, by and by, his patience was 
rewarded. The ship that had 
sailed so long before with his 
little venture on board, returned, 
and the captain told a marvellous 
tale. 

A favorable wind had brought 
the vessel quickly to the coast of 
Barbary, and there the sailors 
went ashore, carrying with them 
some bales of merchandise to sell 
to the Sultan, who was so much 
pleased with the wonderful things 
that he bought them all, and 
bade the captain and his officers 


DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 199 

dine at the palace. They went, 
but, no sooner were they seated 
at a long table spread with mag¬ 
nificent gold and silver dishes, 
and everything good to eat and 
drink, than swarms of rats and 
mice ran out of the walls, and 
devoured all the banquet. The 
captain, vexed to lose his dinner 
so, sent the cabin-boy for the cat 
which had been left on board the 
vessel, and, as soon as she came 
to the palace-door, and saw the 
mice and rats, she sprang from 
the boy’s arms and chased them 
all away, just as she had done in 


200 DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 

Dick’s attic in far-off London. 
Then the Sultan of Barbary 
begged to buy this wonderful 
creature, and offered the captain 
three hundred thousand pounds 
for her. So pussy was sold, and 
a great fortune came in her stead 
to the little scullion. 

And Dick Whittington was 
worthy of his good-luck, for he 
sent for all his family to come 
to London and live like lords; 
he even gave presents to the 
servants who had laughed at him 
and his cat. 

His master, the wealthy mer- 


DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 201 

chant, made him a partner in his 
ships and ventures; his fortune 
yearly increased, and when he 
had grown to be a young man, 
he married Alice Fitzgerald, and, 
last of all, he was knighted by 
the king, became Sir Richard 
Whittington, and was thrice Lord 
Mayor of London, as the Bow 
Bells had long, long ago chimed 
in his ears. 

“ And the best of it all is,” added 
Impty, with a wide, red yawn, 
“ that Sir Richard never forgot 
what had brought him his good- 


202 DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 


fortune when he was only poor 
little Dick Whittington; for, in all 
his statues and pictures, there is a 
little cat curled down in one 
corner, in memory of his own 
puss. ” 

“ H ow I wish I could see one 
of them,” said Dolly, earnestly. 
“ I do love people to remember 
things.” 

“ My grandfather, the King of 
the Cats, has lots in his palace in 
Cat-Land. Now, if I could only 
take you with me — but I can’t; 
it’s no use wishing, so good 
night! ” 



THE EIGHTH NIGHT 


As Impty settled down into his 
place the next night, his purr 
sounded almost like a laugh. 

“Why, Kitty, what are you 
laughing at ? ” Dolly asked, for 
the black kitten was usually a 
sober little person. 

“ I was just thinking of a 
prank my grandfather played in 
his young days, long, long before 
he ever thought of being the 
King of the Cats. If you like, 
I’ll tell it to you.” 

203 



JB Gi£> • 


There were once four crows 
that sat in an ash-tree near an 
old farm-house. It wasn’t long 
before the owl that lived hard by 
looked out of his window under 
the eaves of the loft, and said to 
them : — 

“ Good day to you.” 

“ Good day,” answered the 
crows. 


204 



















THE FUNERAL OF TOM GRIMALKIN 205 


“ H ave you any spare time ? ” 
asked the owl. “ Then I can put 
you in the way of earning an 
honest penny.” 

“Indeed, we’d like to,” said the 
four, for the snow was lying old 
and thick over the whole country, 
and there wasn’t much to be 
earned. 

“ My good comrade, Tom 
Grimalkin, is dead,” said the owl. 
“Now, I was thinking you might 
carry him to his grave. When 
my old friend was alive, he often 
used to say to me: ‘Jan Owl,’ he 
would say, ‘you must give me a 


206 THE FUNERAL OF TOM GRIMALKIN 

decent burial. A respectable life 
deserves a respectable funeral,’ he 
used to say, for he was a clever 
cat. Now, look here! You four 
have good black coats on, and 
are honest people — ” 

“ Come along, then,” said the 
crows, and crept in through the 
owl-hole after him, one by one. 

Now it was pretty dark in the 
loft, and the thatched roof was 
low, but they could see Tom 
Grimalkin where he lay. He was 
stretched at full length in the 
hay, without a move in him. 
The owl took up his post at his 




“Have you any spare time?” asked the owl. — Page 205. 





























































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_ • 







THE FUNERAL OF TOM GRIMALKIN 207 

friend’s head, and the crows 
hopped along, all askew, just as 
they do in windy weather among 
the young wheat. 

“ Many’s the mouse we’ve 
caught in this loft together, Tom,” 
said the owl. “ We’ve always been 
good friends, and many’s the spree 
we’ve had with one another. But 
that’s all past and gone now. Oh, 
Tom! Tom, old fellow! How 
you’d rejoice, and what a spring 
you’d make, if you were only alive, 
and I said to you, ‘Tom, four 
stupid black crows are standing 
round you this minute! ’ ” 


208 THE FUNERAL OF TOM GRIMALKIN 

Then up sprang the Tom-Cat, 
and there was a crow-hunt, the 
like of which you’ve never seen. 

“ Didn’t I tell you that owls were 
more like cats than birds ? Why, 
even that silly song that your uncle 
sings sometimes, about the owl and 
the pussy-cat that went to sea in a 
pea-green boat, and lived on honey, 
says so. I don’t think that any 
self-respecting cat would eat honey, 
but the rest of it’s true enough. 
This isn’t getting on with my next 
story, though, and directly I’m 
through I’ve got to go to Cat- 


THE FUNERAL OF TOM GRIMALKIN 209 

Land. There’s to be a grand 
ball at the Palace to-night, and 
I’m to open it with my cousin, 
the Princess Miaoulina. You 
never heard, did you, about the 
way my grandfather happened to 
learn that he was King of the 
Cats? Well, then, I’ll tell it to 
you.” 



A number of years ago, a 
gentleman, who was travelling 
through the eastern part of Ger¬ 
many, lost his way at nightfall, 
and at last found himself wander¬ 
ing through a large, dense forest. 
He walked his horse slowly for 
some hours among the trees, and 
finally, as he was getting very cold 
and tired, he thought he saw a 


210 






























THE KING OF THE CATS 


211 


light about a quarter of a mile 
away. He turned his steps toward 
it, for he hoped to find some 
peasant-cottage where he could 
pass the night, but, when he came 
nearer, he saw that the light was 
streaming through the windows of 
a ruined church. Looking over 
the sill of one of them, he saw a 
number of cats gathered round a 
small grave, into which four of 
them, crying bitterly, were lower¬ 
ing a little coffin with a crown and 
Grimalkin the Fifteenth engraved 
upon it. Instead of stopping to 
ask the way, the traveller jumped 


212 


THE KING OF THE CATS 


on his horse, and rode off, fortu¬ 
nately finding the right path at 
last. His friends had been ex¬ 
pecting him for several hours, and, 
after they had given him a good 
dinner, and made him as comfort¬ 
able as they could, they asked him 
why he was so late. 

“Well,” said the man, “I lost 
my way, and wandered for some 
hours without knowing where I 
was, and finally I did strike the 
right path by some great good- 
luck. But, while I was lost, I 
saw the strangest sight I have 
ever seen in my life! ” 


THE KING OF THE CATS 


213 


“ What was it ? ” asked his hosts, 
eagerly. 

“ Why,” the traveller began, “ I 
saw more cats than I ever beheld 
in all my life before; every one sad 
and crying, as a coffin, with a 
crown and Grimalkin the Fif¬ 
teenth marked upon it, was being 
lowered into the ground.” 

He had got no farther in his 
story than that, when the large 
black cat who had seemed to be 
asleep in front of the fire, leaped 
up and cried : “ What! Grimalkin 
the Fifteenth dead! Then I’m 
the King of the Cats ! ” and spring- 


214 THE king of the cats 

ing up the chimney, he disappeared, 
and was never seen again! 

“ The reason he was never seen 
again,” Impty explained, “ was be¬ 
cause he went straight to Cat-Land, 
and people can’t go there, you 
know. That black cat was my 
grandfather, and he’d never hoped 
to be King so soon. But, you 
see, Grimalkin the Fifteenth lost 
all his nine lives at once, and so 
my grandfather succeeded to the 
throne immediately. Some day, per¬ 
haps, I’ll be King of the Cats, and 
if I ever am, I’ll make a new law 


THE KING OF THE CATS 215 

so that you can come to Cat-Land 
just as you are without changing 
your shape. Wouldn’t that be 
nice ? Good night! ” 


THE NINTH NIGHT 


Dolly was sitting up in bed 
when Impty came purring in the 
next evening. She looked very 
happy, and she called out gayly 
to the black kitten: “Oh, Impty! 
Mother is coming home to-mor¬ 
row! Miss Jane told me so when 
she was undressing me.” 

“ I know,” answered Impty, curl¬ 
ing up comfortably. “ The cook 
was talking about it to Eliza when 
I was eating my supper in the 

kitchen. Yes, this is our last night 

216 


THE NINTH NIGHT 217 

together, and because it’s the very 
last time I shall ever talk to you, 
I’m going to tell you the finest 
cat-tale in the whole world. It’s 
‘ Puss-In-Boots.’ ” 



Once upon a time, long, long 
ago, in a little country village, there 
lived a miller and his three sons. 
He was poor, but he had been 
able to bring them up respectably, 
and let them live well enough; 
though, when he died, his sons 
found that all he had left them 
was his mill, his donkey, and his 
cat. 


218 











PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


219 


The oldest son took the mill, 
the second the donkey, and for 
the youngest there was left only 
the pet cat. He was sad indeed 
when he thought of his inheritance. 
“What shall I live on now?” he 
asked himself. “ My brothers can 
go into partnership, and so always 
earn their living; but when I have 
eaten my cat, and made myself a 
muff out of his fur, all that will 
be left for me is beggary.” 

While he was thus thinking 
aloud, the cat came and rubbed 
up against his legs, purring, and 
then, to his great surprise, spoke. 


220 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


“ Master,” said Puss, “you haven’t 
fared so badly as you seem to think. 
Just have a pair of boots made for 
me, and get me a sack, and you’ll 
see fine things ! ” 

The young man hardly knew 
whether to believe he was awake 
or asleep. He had never even 
heard of a cat talking before, but 
he remembered how clever Puss 
had always been about catching 
mice and rats, hiding in the grain 
and playing dead; and he thought 
it would do no harm to try what 
luck his cat would bring him. 

So a fine pair of high, yellow 



“ Master,” said Puss. “ you haven’t fared so badly as 
you seem to think.” — Page 220. 


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PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


221 


leather boots was made for the cat, 
and when Puss had slipped them 
on, and slung the sack over his 
shoulder, his master began to have 
faith in his good-fortune at once. 

The cat hurried straight to the 
warren, where hundreds of rabbits 
were nibbling grass and clover 
leaves, and lying down, he opened 
his sack wide and scattered bran at 
its mouth. Soon, a silly little rab¬ 
bit, who knew nothing of tricks and 
traps, came and entered the sack 
the better to eat the bran. Quick 
as a flash Puss drew the strings 
and killed him without mercy. 


222 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


Very proud of his prey, he went 
to the palace of the King, where 
all the court wondered at seeing 
a booted cat who could talk. He 
was shown at once into the throne 
room, and there, after he had made 
a low bow, he laid the rabbit at 
the King’s feet, saying, “ Here, 
Sire, is a present from my master, 
the Marquis of Carabas,” for so 
he had chosen to call the miller’s 
son. The King was very much 
pleased. “ Thank the Marquis, 
my good fellow,” he said, “ for 
sending me such fine game, and 
here’s a piece of gold for you.” 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


223 


Soon after, Puss caught a brace 
of partridges, and these, too, he 
carried to the palace. The King 
was as gracious as before; again 
he thanked the Marquis, and gave 
the cat a handsome present. So 
things went on ; from time to time 
Puss carried game to the King, 
who always showed him the great¬ 
est favor. At last, one day, when 
the cat had learned that the King 
and his daughter, the loveliest 
princess in the whole world, were 
to drive through their village that 
afternoon, he ran to his master, 
and cried : “ Quick ! Quick ! Do 


224 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


as I tell you, and your fortune is 
made forever. Take off your 
clothes, jump into the river, and 
leave the rest to me.” So saying, 
he took the young man’s worka¬ 
day clothes and hid them under 
a large rock. Then, as he heard 
the rumble of chariot wheels on 
the high road, he began to cry 
at the top of his voice: “Help! 
Help! My master, the Marquis 
of Carabas, is drowning!” 

The King, hearing these shouts, 
popped his head out of the coach 
window, and seeing the cat who 
had so many times brought him 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


225 


presents of game, he commanded 
his guards to go to the rescue of 
the Marquis. 

“Alas, your Majesty!” cried 
Puss, “ my master’s clothes have 
been stolen. While he was bath¬ 
ing, robbers came and carried them 
away, and although I cried, ‘ Stop, 
thief ! Stop, thief! ’ I could not 
prevent them from doing this 
wicked deed. And now he can¬ 
not appear before your Majesty.” 

“ I will send the groom of my 
wardrobe for one of my finest 
suits,” said the King; and when 
the suit was brought, and the 


226 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


Marquis of Carabas had put it on, 
every one marvelled to see how 
handsome he was. The King 
invited him to get into the coach 
and drive with them, and, as for 
his daughter, the pretty Princess, 
she fell head over heels in love 
with him. 

All this time Puss had been 
busy, too. He ran quickly ahead 
of the coach, and, stopping at a 
fine field, he cried aloud to the 
peasants who were mowing it: 
“Good people! If you do not 
tell the King, when he rides by, 
that this field belongs to the Mar- 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


227 


quis of Carabas, I will chop you 
into mince-meat! ” 

The peasants were very much 
frightened at this threat, and, 
when the King passed by, and 
asked them who owned the field, 
they cried with one voice, “It 
belongs to the Marquis of 
Carabas.” 

Puss, who was keeping ahead 
of the coach, had already come to 
the next field, a rich meadow 
which the laborers were reaping. 
“ Good people,” he said to them, 
“when the King rides by, if you 
do not tell him that this meadow 


228 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, 
I will make mince-meat of you! ” 

Terrified, the peasants promised, 
and when the King asked them 
whose meadow they were reaping, 
they answered as one man, “ Sire, 
it belongs to the Marquis of 
Carabas.” 

“ You have some very fine 
property, Marquis,” said the King, 
pleased to find the young man as 
wealthy as he was handsome. 
And the Marquis seemed to grow 
richer, for Puss had stopped at 
each field, and the peasants de¬ 
clared that all the land there- 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


229 


abouts belonged to the Marquis 
of Carabas. 

At last Puss stopped before the 
drawbridge of a mighty castle 
owned by the richest and most 
powerful ogre in the whole coun¬ 
try-side. The cat begged that the 
warder would announce him to 
the Ogre as one who had heard 
so much of his magnificence that 
he could not pass by without see¬ 
ing it. The Ogre, who was very 
vain, was pleased by this compli¬ 
ment, and received Puss with the 
greatest kindness. After a while, 
the cat said : “ They tell me that you 


230 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


can change yourself into any shape 
you please; that, in a moment, you 
can become a lion or a tiger, or any 
tremendous thing you wish to be.” 

“ So I can,” said the Ogre, “ and 
just to show you, I’ll turn into a 
lion.” In the wink of an eye there 
he was, roaring away, and poor 
Puss was so frightened that he 
ran up to the top of the house, 
slipping at each step, for his fine, 
shiny boots were never made to 
climb roofs. 

“ Come down,” cried the Ogre, 
changing back into his real shape. 
“ I won’t hurt you ! Come down ! ” 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


231 


Very much scared, Puss clam¬ 
bered down, and, as soon as his 
voice came back to him, he said, 

“They say, too, — but this I can- 

| 

not believe, — that you can take 
the shape of the tiniest animal, a 
mouse, for instance.” 

“Of course I can,” said the 
Ogre, proudly. “Just watch me.” 
He at once became a little mouse 
scampering over the floor, and 
Puss, like a flash, sprang on him 
and ate him up! 

By this time the coach had 
drawn up to the gate-ways of the 
castle, and Puss, seeing it stop, 




232 PUSS-IN-BOOTS 

ran to throw open the doors, cry¬ 
ing: “Welcome, your Majesty! 
Welcome to the castle of the 
Marquis of Carabas ! ” 

“Is this yours also, my dear 
Marquis,” cried the King. “What 
splendid battlements, and what a 
noble gate-way! Come, let us 
enter, and see if the interior is as 
fine, too.” 

As he spoke, he walked into the 
castle, and the Marquis gave his 
hand to the pretty Princess, and 
led her in. 

Puss flung wide the doors of the 
banqueting-hall and showed a long 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


233 


table covered with a fine repast, 
for the Ogre had invited friends 
to dinner that day, and this feast 
was prepared for them. 

The King, the Marquis, and the 
pretty Princess ate it in their stead; 
and at the close his Majesty said, in 
great good humor, to the young man, 
“It all depends upon you, Marquis, 
whether or not you’re my son-in- 
law.” 

The Marquis, who was in love 
with the Princess quite as much 
as she was with him, gladly con¬ 
sented, and that very evening the 
wedding was celebrated. 


234 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


So the poor miller’s son became 
the heir of a mighty king, and, 
as for Puss, who had brought him 
all this good-fortune, he became a 
great lord, and caught rats and 
mice only for his own amusement. 

The last Kitty-Cat Tale was 
finished. 

“Now, good-by, little Mistress; 
go to sleep,” purred Impty, as he 
rubbed up against Dolly’s arm. 
“ I can never, never talk to you 
again this way, for once, only, does 
our King permit a cat to talk to 
a mortal. But, sometimes, when 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


235 


you are petting me, please re¬ 
member the stories I used to tell 
you. Now, I’m going to curl up 
on your pillow, just because it’s 
the last time. How surprised 
M iss Jane will be when she sees 
me to-morrow morning! But it 
won’t make any difference, for 
we’ve had our nights, nine of 
them just like a cat’s lives; and I 
don’t mind if she shuts me out 
now. Good-by! I’m going to 
Cat-Land again. They’re having 
a wedding there to-night.” 

“ Couldn’t I really ever go to 
Cat-Land? If you were king, 


236 PUSS-IN-BOOTS 

i 

couldn’t I ? ” begged Dolly, wist¬ 
fully. “ I’d truly be good, truly, 
Impty. And how would I get 
there ? ” 

“ Why,” the black kitten an¬ 
swered, “ Cat-Land lies East of 
the Sun and West of the Moon, 
and the road runs all along the 
edge of Wonder-World. But it 
doesn’t take me any time to go 
because I’m one of the Royal 
Family. I just close my eyes, 
and whisk my tail nine times, and 
I’m there. But I promise, by the 
whiskers and ears of his Majesty, 
the King of the Cats, that I’ll 


PUSS-IN-BOOTS 


23 7 


take you there if ever I get the 
chance.” He held out his paw 
solemnly, and Dolly shook it just 
as gravely. “Now, mind! It’s 
a bargain,” he said, snuggling down 
beside her. 

“All right! Good-by! ” answered 
the little girl, sleepily, and when 
the moon looked in soon after, 
Impty was off in his dreams to Cat- 
Land, and Dolly had gone to the 
Land of Nod. 


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